A meeting of Maine regulators overseeing land use in unorganized rural areas ended in a stalemate over the siting of a proposed high-voltage, direct-current transmission line near a remote pond close to the Canadian border.
At a Sept. 11 meeting, Maine's Land Use Planning Commission failed to agree on whether to approve the construction of Central Maine Power Co.'s $1.1 billion New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line through western Maine. "Five votes are required to confirm or reject any proposal, and during [the September] meeting, it was evident that there was a lack of consensus," the 10-member commission said in a press release. The commission said deliberation over the project will continue at its October meeting.
Selected as the winning bid in a Massachusetts solicitation for clean energy to help the state meet a 2016 emissions-free electricity mandate, the 1,200-MW New England Clean Energy Connect line would run 145 miles from the U.S.-Canada border in Beattie Township, Maine, through the state's western forests to Lewiston, Maine. In June, Massachusetts regulators gave permission to local electric distribution utility subsidiaries of Eversource Energy, National Grid USA and Unitil Corp. to contract for 1,090 MW of hydroelectric power from Hydro-Québec over the transmission project. CMP is an Avangrid Inc. subsidiary.
In Maine, the Land Use Planning Commission is tasked with deciding the project's route through three sensitive areas: under the Kennebec River Gorge, close to the Appalachian Trail and near Beattie Pond.
The company has already agreed to bury the line near the gorge, and a segment near the Appalachian Trail would run alongside an existing transmission corridor.
"The main point of contention at the commission's meeting, which led to the tabling of a decision, is over a 1.2-mile stretch of the transmission corridor being built near the 27-acre Beattie Pond in Franklin County," a commission spokesperson said.
As reported by the Portland (Maine) Press Herald on Sept. 11, the tops of two transmission poles about a quarter-mile away would be visible from some points on the lake, which is used by fly fishermen, home to one private residence and connected to a 40-mile private gravel road.
The Press Herald reported that CMP said it attempted to buy land south of the pond, but the asking price was 50 times higher than the fair market rate. The developer also said moving the power line north of the pond would increase its visual impact as well. Another option would be to bury the transmission lines, but CMP said that could cost an additional $15 million and require a permanent access road.
