The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
Doug Mulvey is the vice president of LS Power.
Over the past year, electricity costs have become a central point of public discussion in Maine. Driving down those costs is an objective we can deliver.
Aroostook County has bountiful wind resources, which offer the potential for affordable, locally sourced energy. However, the area lacks the essential electrical infrastructure to link those resources to central Maine and the broader New England grid.
Acknowledging this challenge and the transformative possibility that solving it holds, the Maine Legislature took decisive action in 2021, setting in motion the Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development Program. This visionary initiative tasked the Maine Public Utilities Commission with identifying renewable resources in Northern Maine and constructing a new transmission line to distribute those resources to Mainers.
From that directive came the Aroostook Renewable Gateway — an ambitious infrastructure project poised to deliver up to 1,200 megawatts from Aroostook County to Central Maine and the New England power grid. LS Power Grid Maine was selected in a competitive bid process as the developer of the project and is honored to bring the vision to life.
The Gateway is more than a transmission line; it is the portal to a Maine that draws its energy from its own natural resources. It is Maine power for Maine people. Aroostook County’s 1,000-megawatt King Pine Wind Project will generate the power and LS Power Grid Maine will deliver it via the Gateway.
The Gateway can be a game-changer for Maine’s economy. A recently published study, The Macroeconomic Impacts of the Aroostook Renewable Gateway on the Maine Economy, conducted by independent research firm Wallace Economic Advisors, concluded that the Gateway project would yield significant and direct economic benefits for both the state and the communities hosting it. It would create jobs, raise local wages, generate municipal tax revenues, and result in savings on electricity bills for Mainers.
According to the study, Maine ratepayers are expected to save more than $3 billion over the 25-year contract period, providing households with additional disposable income.
The Gateway is expected to create nearly 4,500 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs during development and construction. The Gateway would generate more than $359 million in wages and salaries.
The Gateway would contribute approximately $150 million in state and local tax revenues over the contract period.
In addition to these direct economic benefits, the Gateway would enable substantial further economic impacts of the King Pine Wind Project (which harnesses Aroostook’s abundant natural resources) to be realized. And it would also enable the construction and operation of 200 megawatts of additional renewable generation.
In total, the Gateway is projected to directly create or enable more than 20,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs, generate more than $1.8 billion in new wages and salaries, and contribute approximately $330 million in new tax revenues to the state and host communities, according to the study.
The Aroostook Renewable Gateway is more than a transmission line; it is a gateway to progress. It would enhance grid reliability, lower electricity bills, support beneficial electrification, create high-quality jobs, and generate substantial tax revenue for local communities. It’s Maine power that benefits Maine people.
By harnessing Northern Maine’s rich wind resources and building the essential infrastructure to deliver clean energy, we will not only lower Maine residents’ bills, we will create a brighter economic future for our state. We believe this visionary project represents a win-win scenario, where the environment and the economy thrive hand in hand, all in the service of Maine residents.