By Fred Bever Maine Public news story Listen to full news story. The dispute over Central Maine Power’s proposed transmission line through western Maine landed last night in Farmington, the hometown of Gov. Janet Mills. She strongly endorsed the project last week, but at the town’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting, CMP officials faced an audience Read More
CMP Transmission Line Proposal: A Bad Deal for Maine
Central Maine Power (CMP) is proposing to build a 145-mile, high-voltage, direct current transmission line from the Quebec-Maine border to an interconnection with the existing New England grid in Lewiston. About 53 miles of the CMP transmission line route would create a brand new transmission corridor; requiring clearing of a large, currently undisturbed, swath of Maine’s North Woods.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine opposes the CMP corridor because it would harm Maine forests and wildlife, suppress Maine's renewable energy industry, and could actually increase climate change emissions, all without any clear benefit to Maine or Massachusetts.
Under its proposal, CMP would expand the other 92 miles of transmission line, requiring clearing more vegetation and undertaking additional development within existing corridors. The proposed CMP transmission line includes above-ground transmission lines across the Kennebec River Gorge, the Appalachian Trail, 263 wetlands, 115 streams, 12 inland waterfowl and wading bird habitat areas, and near Beattie Pond, a Class 6 remote pond.
By Supporting CMP Power Line, Mills Undercuts Efforts to Fight Climate Change
No supposed benefit offered by the utility is worth the damage that dirty power from Quebec will do to our environment. By Jonathan Carter, director of the Forest Ecology Network in Lexington Township Portland Press Herald op-ed LEXINGTON TOWNSHIP — What a total disappointment that the administration of Janet Mills has opted to follow the Read More
Central Maine Power, Opponent Address NECEC Project in Farmington
Spokesmen for Central Maine Power tout the benefits of the New England Clean Energy Connect project while the Natural Resources Council of Maine says it remains opposed. By Rachel Ohm, Morning Sentinel Central Maine news story FARMINGTON — A spokesman for Central Maine Power spoke to an at times hostile audience Tuesday night on what Read More
How Will CMP’s Proposed Transmission Line Affect Maine’s Worst-In-The-Nation Outage Response?
By Steve Mistler Maine Public news story Central Maine Power’s push to build a controversial new transmission line through western Maine’s forests so that hydropower from Quebec can be served to Massachusetts customers received a big boost last week when Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed onto the proposal. But questions about the project persist, including Read More
Community Opposes CMP Transmission Line Project
Members of the community gathered in West Fork for a snowmobile ride for a cause. The goal was to raise awareness of what the proposed Central Maine Power transmission line means. by Jackie Mundry News Center Maine news story Watch full news video. WEST FORKS, Maine — A snowmobile ride for a cause. That was Friday’s Read More
Moving Ahead on Climate and Clean Energy at the Maine State House
The legislative session is underway in Augusta, with continuing bipartisan support for action on clean energy and climate change. We are finally poised to make important strides on policies that reduce pollution; lower energy costs; and create a stronger, more sustainable economy for all Mainers. To do so, Maine people will need to stay engaged Read More
CMP “Settlement” Less Than Meets the Eye, Opposition to Corridor Continues to Grow
MA Attorney General testimony shows project would not reduce carbon pollution; Firefighters join growing chorus of opposition in Western Maine NRCM News Release Augusta – A settlement package being offered by Central Maine Power (CMP) for its highly contentious corridor project offers Maine people much less than meets the eye and is not worth the Read More
Settlement Conference Scheduled for CMP’s $950M Transmission Project
by Staff Mainebiz news story The Maine Public Utilities Commission has scheduled a “settlement conference” for Tuesday on Central Maine Power Co.’s $950 million transmission line project through western Maine to deliver hydro-power from Canada to electricity customers in Massachusetts. The three-member PUC filed a procedural order on Friday to schedule a settlement conference for Read More
As Maine Debates 145-mile Electric Line, Energy Giant with Billions at Stake is Absent
By Josh Keefe, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story As Maine regulators are deciding whether to approve the construction of a $1 billion transmission line across much of western Maine, the Canadian hydroelectric utility poised to make billions of dollars from the project has been absent from the process. This has left both opponents Read More
