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10/10/08
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7 comments
Bangor Hydro adds new personnel
BANGOR, Maine — In one bright spot in the economic gloom, the company that helps to light up Maine is adding new personnel. “We’re actually growing, which is really good news,” Susan Faloon of Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. said Thursday. Bangor Hydro hired Robert Lysaght as its new vice president of human services to develop and implement the company’s human resources strategic vision. The company also added another lawyer to its roster: Michael Clisham, who most recently worked at Eaton Peabody in Bangor, will help negotiate contracts and work on land use matters. The new employees are coming on board at a time when the company is focusing on improving its power transmission system, according to Faloon. “The infrastructure is aging,” she said. “It’s not considered adequate to be reliable in the future, or to be able to accommodate load growth.” Bangor Hydro delivers power to 192,000 people in eastern and Down East Maine. It belongs to the New England Power Pool and is connected to other New England utilities and the New Brunswick Power Corp. The company no longer generates its own power, because of the restructuring of the electric utility industry in the state about 10 years ago. In 2001, the company was bought by Canada’s Emera Inc., the parent company of Nova Scotia Power. Faloon said that the company’s next large project is the Northeast Energy Link, which is now in early planning stages. “That’s going to make the system more reliable,” she said. The project, estimated to cost about $2 billion, will be a transmission line going from New Brunswick to Boston. It will connect at Bangor Hydro’s Orrington substation. “There are different types of energy being used in Canada that aren’t necessarily used in Maine,” Faloon said. “The line will bring in tidal and wind power from Canada.” Bangor Hydro is also working closely with the University of Maine as students work to develop cheaper, more efficient heat pump technology. “Our goal is to be an energy solutions provider,” Faloon said.
Comments
This is nice for Bangor Hydro to incept their new process of engineering to keep up with the supply and demands of the new-age materials and customer-related equipment necessary for bringing electric energy to homes. But one thing that I never knew; I'am aqctually sitting here reading this article written by DBN reporter Abigail Curtis, and it is hard for me to believe Bangor Hydro services only 192,000 individual users. ISELCO, (Isabela Electric Company), the electric corporation in the area I live in, covers an area about the entire area of Maine, and just the town I reside in, has over 200,000 population, mostly in spread-out residential districts. However, Bangor Hydro's future planning efforts in a link-up conglomeration with other power corporations, should enhance services to Maine residents. I apoligize to Bangor Hydro and Bangor Daily News for the spelling errors on the first posting...the dog is eating my homework. John have you ever seen the statistics for a power outage? They often refer to users as "billers." You may have a population of 200,000 but you probable only have 67,000 individual users. It would be nice if Bangor Hydro would find a way to buy more (less expensive) electricity from locally produced sources thereby reducing the cost to its Maine customers AND hire enough workers to actually do Preventive Maintenance during the good weather months in Maine thereby reducing problems during the bad weather months. Considering the fact that we customers pay one fee for the amount of electricity we USE and an Additional fee that is even HIGHER for having the electricity DELIVERED to us, preventive maintainence might reduce that delivery cost. Bangor Hydro costs are significantly higher that anything I've ever paid when living in any state outside of Maine. Where was the PUC when the Bangor Hydro Board of Directors sold the electicity generating power in-state and put us in this situation? Doesn't look like the PUC was looking out for those Mainers in THIS part of the state. Of course, that shouldn't surprise anyone. "pjramsay"...thanks for the comment post. No, we do have a population circa 200,000...and there are actual users averaging 194,825 on the customer list. The customer list was provided by Roger Ong, my wife's cousin, sho is an electrical engineer at ISELCO. Thanks for the clarification. You know, "pjramsay"...after reading your web postings on other areas of this site, you seem to think you have so many statistical criteria available to you. Please tell me, where do you think you know so much about the Philippines and that we "may" and have a "probable" this and that. Apparently you know absolutely nothing of what you are making obviously unfounded postings on this web about. If you have absolutely nmo documented proof, please keep off this web or explain things that you know are absolute. glenna... a couple points of information.
Maybe I misunderstood you, but I think it's important for people to understand that the supply portion (not delivery) makes up the lion's share of a typical light bill. SInce the industry was partially deregulated a few years ago, supply prices (the deregulated part) have been going up which delivery prices (the part BHE is responsible for and which is still regulated) have gone down.
Secondly, Bangor Hydro and other Maine utilities were forced to sell their power plants; they had no choice. It was not the PUC's decision either. The State of Maine mandated this sale though passage of the deregulation law. If you would like to place blame for that power plant sale, place it on your Legislature and the governor at the tIme (King, I believe). Bangor Hydro and the other utilities that had to sell those power plants sought the best price possible -- why shouldn't they?
And if you think locally generated power will be cheaper than what you are getting now, think again, because you are already getting locally generated power. It's probably coming to you through a broker, but it's locally generated. The market, now deregulated, drives the price, and the suppliers will naturally try to get as much money as they can for it.
These factors are why a lot of people feel deregulation of the industry has not produced much benefit for the average light company customer. |
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