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Carole L. Getchell lives with her husband in Corinth. They own property that potentially abuts the proposed transmission line corridor.
In October 2022, the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved a bid from LS Power Grid Maine (a subsidiary of Missouri-based LS Power), to develop and construct a new 140 to 160 mile 345-kilovolt transmission line. It had also approved an Aroostook County wind farm ( King Pine Wind Maine, LLC, a subsidiary of Boston-based Longroad Energy). The new power line will connect wind energy to the ISO NE grid. The proposed wind farm, of over 170 turbines, will be located on 4,500 acres west of Houlton, making it the largest onshore wind project east of the Mississippi River. Net cost of both projects is a projected $1.8 billion. Maine agreed to purchase 60% of energy and Massachusetts up to 40 percent.
On June 13, the Maine Legislature passed LD 924. “Resolve, to Provide Legislative Approval of the Transmission Project Selected by the Public Utilities Commission Pursuant to the Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development Program.” The House vote was 80 for, 61 against, 9 absent; Senate vote: 24 for, 9 against, 2 excused. Some legislators cautiously voted against LD 924 because they had no idea where the route may be located. Gov. Janet Mills signed LD 924 on June 22.
June 22 was also the postmark date on the envelope my husband and I received from LS Power Grid Maine, which contained a potential corridor map with alternative routes. The letter stated: “The Project may impact property that you own depending on the route chosen.” Letters were sent to around 3,500 residents. Nineteen days later, very detailed corridor maps and property boundaries were published on-line and on their open house boards.
Many property owners and abutters felt blindsided, and were stunned, and angry. Why wasn’t the corridor route made public prior to Legislative voting to allow comments from interested parties, stakeholders, and towns? I think the legislators who voted for LD 924 and Gov. Mills, who signed the bill, were extremely disrespectful to Maine taxpayers whose property and livelihood are at stake. How many legislators have property directly impacted by the new corridor? Yes, final route approval is still needed by many agencies, including the Maine PUC, but the burden is now on corridor land owners and abutters to speak out. Rubberstamping appears too easy.
A Daymark Energy Advisors study (paid for by the project’s companies) states an average monthly residential energy bill savings by these projects would be around $2.33 a month. Would a reasonable person relinquish land use and/or their livelihood for this?
Easements will potentially be paid at current “fair market value.” What’s “fair” when the corridor bisects dairy and agricultural farms (decimating livelihoods), hay fields, woodlands, house lots, and etc.? Many properties have been in families for generations. For many, their property may be all they have. What’s “fair” about potential herbicides on a 150-foot right-of-way? What’s “fair” about an easement payment that doesn’t compensate for significantly devalued property with little future use, or compensate for property sale at pre-easement value?
Many of us live in rural areas with abundant wildlife habitats that may be bulldozed and possibly sprayed with herbicides. What about residential well water and streams? What about electromagnetic fields? Transmission lines poles have a typical height of 90 to 165 feet.
Most of us agree we need to make clean energy a reality in Maine but we need to take a few steps back and work together for a fair and equitable plan. Maine’s “Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development Program” says the Public Utilities Commission shall give preference to proposals that: “Favor use, where practicable, of existing utility and other rights-of-way and other existing transmission corridors in the construction of the line or lines described in this subsection.” Are other corridors and rights-of-way available to minimize geographic and economic impact?
And yes, we stakeholder taxpayers and voters do care about what happens in our Maine “backyards” when lawmakers serve it up to LS Power Grid Maine without asking us first.
