Corporate Surrogates for Massachusetts have spent close to $17 million so far battling a referendum question in Maine that seeks to block the importation of hydroelectricity from Quebec using a power line running through wilderness areas in the western part of the state.

Energy Policy Transmission Maine Massachusetts

Another potential barrier to Central Maine Power Co.’s proposed $1 billion hydropower corridor through western Maine was removed Tuesday when the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled against a challenge to a regulator’s approval of the project.

Transmission Maine

One bill, L.D. 1383, would have required electric utilities to obtain approval from local governments before using eminent domain to take private land for transmission line projects. Supporters failed to garner the two-thirds majority needed to overturn Mills’ veto in the House on a 79-64 vote.

Impact on Landscape Transmission Maine

Representatives of NextEra said the regulatory commission should have required CMP to analyze alternatives to the project to mitigate negative environmental effects. The appeal was made to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which will set the schedule to hear the case, according to the commission’s spokesman, Harry Lanphear.

Impact on Landscape Transmission Maine

“There’s basically no benefit to Maine, there’s no amount of money worth this kind of massive destruction. It would change the brand of Maine. There would be multiple negative impacts including to tourism, the environment,” she says. “These towers are 100 feet tall,” says opponent Matt Wagner.

Transmission Canada Maine

Franklin County residents and elected officials will have the opportunity Monday night to question Central Maine Power Co. authorities about a proposed Quebec-to-Massachusetts power line that would run through six towns and about 33 miles of the county.

Energy Policy Transmission Maine

Representatives of five transmission projects proposed in July in response to the Massachusetts solicitation for 9.45 TWh/year of hydro and Class I renewables (wind, solar or energy storage) tried to explain why their projects should be among those selected in January. Contracts awarded under the MA 83D request for proposals are to be submitted in late April.

Energy Policy Transmission Canada Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire New York Vermont

Massachusetts’ demand for clean energy has drawn interest from several companies hoping to win lucrative contracts to transmit wind and hydro power from Maine, Atlantic Canada and Quebec. The utilities National Grid, Eversource and Unitil, along with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, are considering dozens of bids, including Maine-based proposals that would entail overland transmission lines and at least two undersea cables running through the Gulf of Maine to the Bay State. 

Transmission Maine Massachusetts

Evans-Brown says opponents want to know why their scenery should become the pass-through for Massachusetts' electricity needs, "people who have businesses that would be impacted by the construction, and who believe they're business depends on tourists coming up to visit. There's a very famous pancake parlor that the owner came and gave very impassioned testimony."

Energy Policy Transmission Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire

The New York utility wants to partner with a group of energy developers called Maine Power Express LLC to build a 630-megawatt wind facility in Penobscot and Aroostook counties. New York energy giant Con Edison hopes to partner with developers of new Maine wind farms to deliver power to Boston through a bid process under consideration in Massachusetts.

Transmission Maine

The project cost is confidential, but CMP has confirmed that it’s in the $1 billion range. The total cost would be paid by Massachusetts electric customers. ...It’s also possible that a similar line being proposed by CMP and a partner could carry power from new solar and energy-storage projects in western Maine, as well as wind turbines on both sides of the border.

Transmission Maine

Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association, has compiled figures to show transmission rates in the region already are five times higher than they were in 2005. During that period, he said, wholesale electric rates have fallen by 48 percent. That drop is tied to the lower cost of natural gas, which is used to generate half the power supplied by members in Dolan’s association.

Transmission Maine

RUMFORD — Voters repealed the town's five-year-old wind development ordinance at the annual town meeting Tuesday, 571-452.

Transmission Maine

Energy officials and industry representatives in Maine were tamping down impressions that all or even most of these projects would be built. “I’ve been trying to get the public prepared for this and not think that all of these projects will be developed,” said Patrick Woodcock, Gov. Paul LePage’s energy director. “In fact, under the request-for-proposals, it’s not even possible for all of them to be chosen.”

Energy Policy Transmission Maine

New England’s most populous states are looking to tap Canadian dams and rivers for more of their electricity, a change that officials say would help cut greenhouse-gas emissions and help keep some of the nation’s highest power prices in check.

Energy Policy Transmission Connecticut Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island Vermont

With the decision Tuesday, the commissioners decided to move into a second phase in the case, considering the longer-term questions about the northern Maine regional grid. That includes whether there’s any benefit to ratepayers from connecting transmission lines in the area to the New England power grid, something that wind developers in the area might seek in order to reach the regional ISO-New England market.

Transmission Maine

Huskilson told analysts that Emera Maine is working with Central Maine Power Co. on a proposed transmission upgrade that would allow more wind power and other energy to be transported from northern Maine and Canada.

Energy Policy Transmission Canada Maine

Building more electricity transmission into New England isn't about an "energy crisis." It's about economics, jobs, corporate profit, failure to make the small fixes that add up, failure to do detailed analysis, failure to resist stampede crisis mentality, and lots of other things.

Energy Policy Transmission Connecticut Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island Vermont

The six New England governors, working with the New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCO) and regional grid operators, have launched a process under which Northern Pass partners may be able to acquire substantial ratepayer funding and eminent domain powers for the controversial plan to bring hydroelectricity from Quebec into New England.

Transmission Connecticut Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island Vermont

When those customers are generating power from their own energy sources, they’re not buying power from CMP, thereby reducing the company’s revenue. CMP wants to charge those customers a special rate to reflect the fact that even though they aren’t buying power all the time, they expect CMP to provide them with reliable distribution service. It’s an issue in other states, too, as power companies adapt to increasing power generation “behind the meter,” on-site by small-scale producers.

Impact on Economy Transmission Maine