Based on the input of islanders and Trustees, the Island Institute’s new strategic plan commits the organization, among other things, to begin developing information on two significantly inter-related issues will affect island communities in the future: the increasing cost of energy and the increasing risk of climate change.

At a recent roundtable meeting of electric co-op board members, islanders from the communities of Swan’s, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, North Haven and Vinalhaven described their current energy dilemmas in remarkably similar terms. These islands buy electricity from the mainland that is distributed to them via expensive underwater cables, but local ratepayers carry all the costs of installing and maintaining the cable lifeline. On islands closer to the mainland, such as Islesboro and most island communities in Casco Bay, the cost of their much shorter cables is much lower and is generally absorbed into the overall rate structure.

Vinalhaven and North Haven, served by the Fox Islands Electric Co-op, recently had to replace their cable at a huge cost — over $6 million — because the old cable had deteriorated over the years in the harsh marine environment. Service was increasingly unreliable. Swan’s and Frenchboro replaced their cable about ten years ago and will likely need to make a new capital investment sometime in the next decade. To make matters worse, when islanders from these communities conserve energy by installing more efficient appliances or simply use less energy, the rates go even higher for their neighbors who are unable to use less. Electric bills, already at an average of $300 per month for many families, are headed toward $500 per month and islanders are deeply concerned that many of their neighbors, especially those on fixed incomes, will be forced to leave their communities.

These co-ops have, therefore, begun to explore alternative energy sources, including wind and solar. One solar company did a recent analysis for the Fox Islands Electric Co-op and indicated that on a three-acre site they could guarantee power for the two islands at 12 cents per kilowatt-hour if the co-op signed a 20-year contract. Since the co-op currently buys power at 9 cents per kilowatt-hour, the deal did not make economic sense, particularly since the co-ops own the cable and needs to pay off the debt on it.

Three years of anemometer studies on the Fox Islands and generalized wind profiles for Swan’s and Frenchboro confirm what many people with common sense suspect: wind is a resource that can potentially be harnessed economically on or around these islands. But here is the next dilemma: the economies of scale for installing privately financed wind turbines — in the range of 20-40 turbines — is a scale of development islanders cannot accept. On the other hand, the co-ops cannot afford to develop the two to four turbines that might satisfy local demand, because of their high existing debt load and high fixed management costs. So the question arises as to whether by cooperating with each other, island communities might be able to develop their wind resources on terms and at a scale that are appropriate to the communities themselves.

In a nutshell, the premise of community wind is to achieve the goal of developing local wind resources for the benefit of local ratepayers rather than for the owners of a privately financed wind project. There are a number of community wind projects around the country, including one in Hull, Massachusetts, and others throughout the Midwest. But community wind has caught on in a big way in northern Europe in places such as Germany and Denmark, where citizens both want to control their own energy generation and also to contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas production.

Whether community wind has a place on Maine islands remains to be seen. But it is a question we have been asked (and instructed) to follow in the months and years ahead. q

Philip Conkling is president of the Island Institute.