WINDSOR, Maine — For months, the path for a proposed transmission line connecting a new Aroostook County wind farm to the regional power grid near Augusta looked smooth.
It already has received a green light from Gov. Janet Mills and lawmakers. Two of the Legislature’s most powerful members were championing it. Apart from needing final approval from regulators, the project looked to be avoiding the grassroots opposition that has marked other energy fights in Maine, including around the Central Maine Power Co. corridor.
But six July meetings in communities along the proposed route laid bare skepticism from residents, echoing Maine’s biggest infrastructure struggles. Two dozen farmers in Albion even protested outside a meeting last week, arguing the line could cut through struggling dairy farms.
Chief among the local criticism is how homeowners did not know the transmission line could run by or through their properties until they heard about the town halls hosted by the project developer, LS Power, and that lawmakers approved the plan in June before the proposed route had been shared with them and the public.
“How do you vote on something you don’t know anything about?” Rita Galiardi of Windsor asked a reporter on Thursday outside a meeting at fairgrounds hall. “That’s just stupid.”
Formed out of 2021 renewable energy legislation, the Aroostook Renewable Gateway project would extend for 140 to 160 miles from a new substation in Glenwood Plantation in northern Maine to an existing plant in Windsor. Another substation for the 150-foot-wide corridor will be built closer to Bangor, either in Dixmont or Detroit.
LS Power, headquartered in New York, is leading the transmission portion, while Boston-based Longroad Energy is leading the King Pine Wind part of the effort that will feature up to 179 turbines west of Houlton producing 3.18 billion kilowatt-hours per year, enough to power up to 450,000 homes in the largest land-based wind project east of the Mississippi River.
The new infrastructure will link Aroostook County for the first time with the ISO New England grid that operates in Maine and five other states. It is a key piece of the state’s goals to reach 80 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.
The cost of the transmission line would be roughly $2.8 billion, although the wind power project is expected to provide a savings of $1.08 billion, bringing the net cost to $1.8 billion over 20 years, the Maine Public Utilities Commission estimates.
LS Power hopes to receive commission approval along with other permits by 2026 and complete the project by mid-2028, Doug Mulvey, vice president of project development for LS Power, said, emphasizing in an interview at the Windsor town hall that “nothing is final.
He pointed to dashed lines on a route map that indicate two alternative route segments and the 30 or so LS Power representatives talking with dozens of attendees, helping them view posters with project information and maps that showed parcels along the proposed route.
“I guarantee you [the route] will change,” Mulvey said. “The more feedback you can provide us, the better.”
Massachusetts agreed in January to finance up to 40 percent of the transmission and distribution projects in return for 40 percent of the generated energy. It is expected to cost Maine ratepayers $1 per month for 10 years. But Mulvey said a study commissioned by LS Power and Longroad Energy found it will save the average residential customer $2.30 per month.
The project’s champions in Augusta include the top Senate leaders from Aroostook County, President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, and Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, along with the Democratic governor and powerful groups like the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.
In a statement on Monday, Jackson spokesperson Christine Kirby called the meetings an important step in the process and said her boss does not support the use of eminent domain.
“He understands people’s concerns and would feel similarly about a project going through his backyard,” he said.
The Legislature approved the plan in June, with several Republicans joining most Democrats on the “yes” side. Mills signed off later that month. Some residents and lawmakers did not like how the Legislature approved the plan before LS Power had shared the proposed route map.
“That’s just sneaky Pete,” Debra Galiardi said after attending the Windsor town hall.
Lyman Frost, a Stetson resident who attended the town hall in Etna last week, said his property would get bisected by the proposed transmission line. He called the LS Power representatives polite and well-spoken, but the route came abruptly and as a “bombshell.”
LS Power mailed letters to about 3,500 residents who live in the current route area informing them of the town halls, Mulvey said. Answering criticism that lawmakers approved the project with limited information, he said the company could have released details “a long time ago.”
“But then you’d have 100 questions, and we’d have to say, ‘Sorry. I don’t yet have the answer to that,’” he said.
The company is also aware of how Mainers have had reservations about similar projects, particularly the CMP corridor given new life after a jury overturned a referendum to stop it this spring. LS Power is trying to learn from the good and bad elements of that, Mulvey said.
After the PUC approved bids last fall from LS Power and Longroad Energy’s King Pine Wind, Jackson said it would support Aroostook County renewable energy generation projects that currently face challenges due to a lack of connection to the New England power grid.
Windsor Town Manager Theresa Haskell said her community is familiar with transmission lines, noting CMP’s existing Coopers Mills substation is the largest in New England. But any tax-base boost needs to be balanced with residents’ concerns, she added.
“If they get it approved, it’s coming to Windsor, one way or the other,” she said.
