SANFORD — Former Maine Gov. Angus King came to town Thursday to talk about energy.

And make no mistake about it, he’s in the energy business: The wind business. His company, Independence Wind LLC, is in the process of building a 22-turbine, $110-million project in Roxbury, north of Rumford.

King is a passionate believer that the country must solve its energy problems, and he says our dependence on oil ”“ particularly in Maine ”“ isn’t good for the state or its people.

He said 78 to 80 percent of all energy used in Maine comes from oil and gas.

“The reality is, that’s dangerous,” said King, speaking at a Chamber of Commerce “Lunch and Learn” event at the Town Club. “When gas goes up $1 (a gallon), and heating oil goes up $1, it’s a $1 billion disappearing from the Maine economy. It is $1 billion people don’t spend on building supplies and insurance,” and other goods and services, he said. “And a lot of (the money) goes to people who don’t like us very much.”

King, who founded Independence Wind with former Maine Public Broadcasting President Robert Gardiner in 2007, was governor of Maine from 1995 to 2003. A longtime attorney, he was also host of “Maine Watch” on Maine Public Broadcasting for about 20 years.

He speaks to audiences with ease; it seems to be a comfortable role for him.

King cautioned that if the cost of oil and gas goes up again ”“ it was recently close to $4 a gallon ”“ he said Maine becomes unlivable because of the cost associated with keeping warm and getting around. He said he doesn’t know what the “unlivable” figure is, but threw out $6 or $7 a gallon.

And he said last winter, he became aware that some people were unable to pay their mortgages because they were paying for heat, and couldn’t manage both.

King said his research shows that in 1970, oil was $3.39 a barrel and it made sense to heat with oil. Now he pointed out, oil is more than $100 a barrel.

Instead of oil, King advocates the use of electricity, which can be made from any energy source ”“ including wind. He said offshore wind energy has huge potential, but predicts its debut in North America is 10 to 12 years away.

He admits there are detractors who are opposed to wind farms like the one being built in Roxbury and farms that have been built by other companies, like the one at Kibby Mountain, built by a Eustis company called TransCanada.

But in King’s view, seeing a windmill is better than seeing land that has been used for oil drilling, the effects of an oil spill, or the nuclear difficulties in Japan after the recent earthquake.

He said he wished the wind was blue, so people could see it.

Some in the audience asked if people could hear the wind being harnessed for electric power. One can hear the “whoosh” of the turbine blades, depending on how close you are, said King, and said the projects with which he is involved  are 3,000 feet away from the closest people.

He said there are 100 turbines in Maine now, and expects there will be 150 by the end of the year and that Maine’s capacity is about 1,000.

“The big thing is, how do we get off oil? We’ve had two whacks in the head,” he said, referring to when oil hit $4 a gallon in the summer of 2008 and again, when it came within pennies of $4 a gallon earlier this year.

“Everyone’s looking for progress, but no one’s for change,” he said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.