May 28 - Portland Press Herald



By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, Mainers would prefer using solar panels to upgrade the state's power grid over putting up high-voltage lines, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Younger people and those who say they support environmental causes are most likely to see solar energy as the answer to keeping the lights on, the poll suggests.

The poll was released at a news conference organized by GridSolar LLC, a Portland-based company that hopes to fill the state's future electricity needs with acres of strategically placed solar collectors. The event was part of a high-stakes campaign to present an alternative to Central Maine Power Co.'s proposed $1.5 billion upgrade of the state's transmission system.

Both proposals are in front of the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

GridSolar is trying to capitalize on popular opposition to big transmission lines and towers, and on the growing public affection for green power, to position itself as an innovative way to give Maine a reliable grid.

It filed a petition with the PUC last winter to become a transmission and distribution utility, essentially competing with CMP.

The decision, expected this year, rests solely with the three PUC commissioners. But GridSolar has mounted a publicity campaign that includes town meetings, presentations to newspaper editorial boards and polling.

The poll was included in an omnibus survey done by a veteran pollster, Chris Potholm. The survey of 500 residents, done in April, has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Poll results had 38 percent of respondents supporting GridSolar's approach and 20 percent backing CMP. Significantly, 42 percent said they were unsure or had no opinion.

Dennis Bailey, president of Savvy Inc., a public relations firm that GridSolar hired to help convey its message, said the numbers are encouraging. Bailey is also spokesman for Rich Connor, the prospective buyer of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

"CMP is a household name," Bailey said. "This is like running against an incumbent."

Although PUC proceedings aren't political campaigns, public pressure can have an effect. Last year's highly organized opposition to the sale of Verizon's phone lines to FairPoint Communications, for instance, led the commission to attach stronger conditions to its approval, in Bailey's view.

Also in play: The term of the commission's chair, Sharon Reishus, expired in March. The chair can continue to serve until reappointed, or until the governor nominates and the Legislature confirms a new one.

Part of the strategy of GridSolar and its supporters, Bailey said, is to push for a replacement they see as open to unconventional energy solutions.

CMP responded to the poll by saying it's not surprising that people who are concerned about the environment favor solar power. But there's no way to know how well respondents understood the purpose and merits of CMP's proposal, said spokesman John Carroll.

The power company has been meeting with community leaders and editorial boards, too. Its message is that renewable resources can make valuable contributions, "but we don't see them as a substitution for transmission lines," Carroll said.

The commission is reviewing CMP's proposal to build a new high- voltage transmission line and substations through 80 communities from Orrington to Eliot. CMP has said that power disruptions may occur in its aging system by 2012 if nothing is done to modernize lines and towers.

If approved, the upgrade will trigger one of the largest construction projects in Maine. The four-year job, which would create an estimated 3,300 jobs at its peak, has the backing of Gov. John Baldacci.

GridSolar was formed by Richard Silkman and Mark Isaacson, partners in Competitive Energy Services in Portland. They represent large power buyers in energy contracts and have developed small power projects.

They want to place arrays of solar-electric panels near communities that use lots of power. The panels would go up in 25- acre fields, initially around the midcoast and Lewiston-Auburn. The locations would correspond with areas that CMP has identified as being most prone to future reliability problems. The concept, called distributed solar generation, is used in Germany.

Solar arrays would fill in local power-supply gaps on summer days, when the sun's rays are strongest and when air conditioners are running in homes and businesses.

The solar electricity generated during those periods would help lower future electricity rates for residential customers, the company says.

GridSolar is proposing to build a total of 800 megawatts of solar generation, roughly the output of the former Maine Yankee nuclear plant.

Construction would be phased over several years, to keep pace with demand. A 25-acre site could accommodate enough panels to generate about two megawatts.

The approach is favored by two groups that were represented at Wednesday's news conference, Opportunity Maine and the League of Young Voters. They see the potential for more jobs over a longer time, and they like the idea of using renewable energy close to where it's needed.

They also are strong on reducing power plant emissions.

A media campaign that taps those public desires can help raise the profile of an unknown entity, said MaryEllen FitzGerald, president of Critical Insights Inc., a strategic marketing firm in Portland.

CMP is well regarded in Maine, FitzGerald said, and appreciated for restoring power after storms. But a campaign that elevates GridSolar as a green alternative can be effective.

"There's a lot of cachet with green power now," she said.

Staff Writer Tux Turkel can be contacted at 791-6462 or at:

tturkel@pressherald.com

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MORE ONLINE:

For more information, go to:

www.gridsolarme.com

www.mainepower.com

Originally published by By TUX TURKEL Staff Writer.

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