AUGUSTA, Maine — A state panel is ready to open up land along the state’s two major interstate highways, I-95 and I-295, to energy companies looking to build power lines, gas pipelines or other underground infrastructure to transmit electricity through the state.
The state panel, known as the Interagency Review Panel, is inviting letters of interest from businesses as the result of a 2010 law signed by former Gov. John Baldacci that designates three “energy infrastructure corridors” as energy transmission routes through key regions of the state that can be leased to companies for major transmission projects.
The law sets up a process for the state to lease land along those energy corridors for transmission projects. In exchange, the state would receive lease payments and use the bulk of the revenue for improvements to the state’s secondary roads.
The law requires that applicants demonstrate that their projects are “reasonably likely” to reduce electric rates in Maine and that their transmission projects won’t harm in-state energy production.
The law designated I-95, I-295 and the Searsport-Loring corridor stretching from Waldo County to Aroostook County as the state’s three “statutory corridors” for encouraging the development of energy transmission infrastructure.
The energy corridors have the capacity to transmit almost as much electricity as Maine consumers use, said Ken Fletcher, the director of Gov. Paul LePage’s energy office.
“It is not designed to supply Maine. It’s really designed to supply the rest of New England with either Maine-generated electricity or Canadian-generated electricity,” he said. “What we want to do is make sure we negotiate an agreement that brings back value to the state of Maine.”
The energy corridor law passed in 2010 as a way to secure benefits for the state by allowing the transmission of energy from Canada, through Maine, to southern New England without endangering the state’s fledgling green energy industry. The law also ended a moratorium on the development of energy corridors that was threatening the development of some energy projects in Down East Maine.
The law originally directed 80 percent of revenue from leasing the energy corridors to the Efficiency Maine Trust to fund energy efficiency projects. But a law signed by LePage in April changed that allocation, directing 90 percent of revenues to the state Department of Transportation for use on secondary roads and 10 percent to Efficiency Maine.
Fletcher said the Interagency Review Panel’s primary responsibility is to negotiate the benefits package for the state. In addition to lease revenues, he said, those benefits could include guarantees of lower electric rates for Maine consumers.
Companies proposing energy transmission projects would have to follow all Department of Transportation rules for construction along interstate highway corridors, which means the infrastructure for any transmission project would have to be installed underground.
More information is available on the website of the governor’s energy office at http://www.maine.gov/energy/initiatives/review-panel.shtml.
If there was ever a project for Vigue and his ego to get into, with support, then this would be the one. Getting power, aside from the constant crying about hydro, to the majority of Maine (especially up here in The County !) is one business neccessary project that no one can argue with. That it began under Baldacci shouldn’t be a reason, much less a bad excuse, for this project to be trashed. Any and every Town along the route’s of these power ‘corridor’s stands to gain, provided the power supplier’s don’t go and get greedy or stupid like Lincoln did earlier this year, and both create opportunity’s for business’s to start and expand, and for homeowner’s to finally get some serious relief from some of these ridiculous electrical bill’s transmission cost’s. And the job’s in constructing it would be a welcome sight to a lot of Mainer’s, more so since these same people, once the ‘corridor is built, are going to be needed to maintain it. The power is also gonna be a welcome addition for any number of business’s that need it to expand since the current power company’s are all saying that their grid’s are showing sign’s of being ‘max’ed’ out.
The only real issue’s, and winter is coming, are gonna be both the timing of these corridor’s construction and the reliability of the power to flow 24/7. If Maine is serious about this project then the State Planning Office and the DOT need to get moving now, not in the Spring, so that all of the planning and early ‘admin’ stuff can get done now. That way the DOT and the SPO have something to show the incoming Statehouse Legislature when they convene, and move more responsibly than last year’s Budget process, and actually get construction started as soon as the weather provides for. It’s also going to provide a reasonable amount of time for the State AND the power company’s to buy the land for these ‘corridor’s’ WITHOUT having to go thru the eminent domain goat rope we all saw developing last year (Cianbro, TAKE NOTE !!!!). Maybe, just maybe, if this is done right then all of Maine, not just a few, might actually benefit. It’s up to the State, the Legislature and the voter’s (Nov 6th is coming !) to make it happen………….
Wait a little bit and all the tree huggers will say how bad this is for Maine !
Here I am….this will make a ride along Maine’s interstate(s) an ugly, ugly trip. agh. Try driving to Montreal and all you see are transmission towers/wires.
The MPRP just doubled the State’s transmission capacity at over a billion dollars, thats maybe $1000 per Maine person. This seems a little late
I think you missed the part in the article where it says, “It’s really designed to supply the rest of New England with either Maine-generated electricity or Canadian-generated electricity.” So the Maine people wouldn’t benefit directly, of course the revenue might help keep our road taxes at bay.
Not at all. One thing that we all know in Maine is that if there’s money to be made, then that money is gonna be made. The Casella / UM Bangor gas deal showed everyone that. A completely seperate power grid, that’s in direct competition with MPS and CPS, and even EMEC if it gets that far, is a VERY good thing since it’s going to provide a competitive counter to the current power supplier’s. Provided the PUC can see the advantages of this, and that’s one of their job’s beside’s rubber stamping speculation investor’s, the eventual tapping of this power is going to finally get Maine business’s and residence’s electrical supplier’s a competitive alternative. The big question for the PUC is can they get out of their own way and actually look after the Maine ratepayer’s as opposed to the speculator’s ? This works out and the days of LePage and his ‘Buy Canadian Hydro’ chant’s are over. It’s also, hopefully, the beginning of Maine hydro power coming back…………
I foolishly assume that MPS, CPS and EMEC actually mean something?
Please for those of us that don’t know everything about everything, the first time an acronym is used please use the full name and then the abbreviation.
When I plugged MPS into my browser I got about 100 school systems, the London police department, a disease support group and various other things so I did not try the two others at all.
Hate to break it to you but Pete Vigue was the initial driver behind this a few years ago. whynotmaine.com
Then he has all the more motivation to get it built as opposed to that E-W Highway mess. This power corridor, that Maine Public Service, Eastern Maine Electric Coop. and Central Maine Power all are going to either compete against or, if they are smart, join in constructing and leasing time / space on, has the potential to get Maine power cost’s down to a point where we can all actually start thinking about going all electric and get Maine off the oil wagon. Add the potential of Maine getting off the eco-crazy train and maybe Maine can bring back hydro. Hydro and a means of getting it distributed efficiently are, unless someone has a better idea in mind, probably the best option for the future.
What’s more important is that this technology, and the means of building and operating it, are already a known fact. That means immediate means of construction and operation since the means and manpower to build and operate it are already here. That means job’s, Maine job’s that will get the State’s economy moving and, if this whole thing is allowed to work itself out and not be toyed with, keep Maine’s economy moving for a long time to come. The only question is will someone do something either stupid or dumb (and I classify GREEDY in there as dumb) to screw this project from Jump 1 ? That is an issue that the Legislature, and the Governor, need to start dealing with now, not next Spring when the construction season start’s.
i’m just curious as to why you think this is different than the EW highway? I’m gathering you’re not a fan of the EW highway…According to this article a potential project must demonstrate a project to be “reasonably likely” to help Mainers. IF and i’m just saying IF, if it could be demonstrated that the EW highway was “reasonably likely” to help Mainers, would you support it then?
The greedy and stupid thing that Lincoln did was to not only embrace First Wind coming to town and building a sprawling industrial complex in a rural residential zone, but they put First Wind on the local welfare rolls with the TIF. Now local officials who were obviously in over their heads and manipulated by First Wind are unable to account for millions of dollars and likely broke the law in the way they used TIF money.
I’m all for it…..As long as its put under ground…..I don’t want to be an eye sore like the power line on the studmill road.
Well, the rest of the world surely doesn’t want to spoil your view.
yes, god forbid that you’d have to actually look at the infrastructure that powers your energy-driven lifestyle…
You can’t put 350 kV underground. Ground conducts electricity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HVDC_projects
What if Southern New England was to purchase less expensive power from Canada to replace the high costs associated with peak demand periods during the hot, summer days. Oh, they already do. See ISO-NE August report…..a million kilo-watt hours of electricity imported from H-Q.
And thus the arguement for Maine hydroelectric is made and justified. Now, I wonder who’s gonna ask LePage about his supposedly ‘friendly’ hydro contract with Hydro Quebec when this report is openly asked about. That press conference is gonna be one for the book’s !
The trouble with this proposal from an electricity perspective refers to the need for underground lines which are nearly ten times more expensive than overhead transmission. This type of construction most likely requires approval from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and other agencies. We should be concerned with the cost of energy and this proposal lacks this type of justification even though it does remove some normal hindrances to the establishment of transmission lines; e.g., right-of-way through private property. We should take advantage of a natural transmission corridor while making residents aware of public responsibility for sharing the expenses of a common good —- cheaper electricity for economic stimulation.
Some energy transmission already takes place underground — gas and oil so no “extra” costs there. Underground electric transmission lines (high voltage) are 8-10 times more expensive than overhead lines. Distribution lines (the things coming up my road) are 4-6 times more expensive underground.
90% to the MDOT? I’m sure they’ll spend it wisely. ;-{
And how did you expect off shore wind power to get to the mainland grid switches? this is why distribution costs for off shore wind is so damn expensive!
Last time I checked this article was about energy transmission along I95, I295 and Searsport-Loring.
Actually, Organicgardener’s point is well taken. Use the Block Island wind project as a good example of the cost of running electricty through undersea cables and you get a feel for the cost incurred with doing this. The transmission cable for Block Island Wind is 21 miles in length and is expected to cost $49 million.
The Maine Power Reliability Project, currently underway to put up a 345KV line whose sole purpose is to bring expensive wind power from remote Maine to southern New England is $1.4 billion and that is above ground from Orrington to Elliot.
This is an outlandishly expensive proposition. I would hope that Maine could benefit from it by both lowering electricity rates and providing a substantial steady source of revenue for state government. To me, the best benefit would be putting the wind power scam out of business and save our beautiful state from the environmental damage and blight of sprawling, useless wind power sites.
If it must be done, using existing cleared corridors make more sense to me than the clearing of ever more acres of woodland habitats for power lines. Better conservation and use of what’s available now rather than stimulating even more profligate use of resources makes equal sense, but that’s not going to happen – we’ve already made that bed.
When run along I95/295 there is the possibility of installing electric train and vehicle recharging stations. This is, for me, the most exciting piece of the LePage Energy plan.
Good point. Citizen involvement and not a little noise will be probably be necessary to keep that in view, given the lackadaisical attitude toward encouraging real change in the corridors and lobbies of power.
It’s worth the exstra money to put them under ground. The visual alone would help Maine look like it’s part of the 21st century. Then all the’d have to do is put in a hydro plant that would put Q-H on the back burner. I wonder if there is some NAFTA agreement that makes them stubborn there? Romney says he’s going to pull the plug on the whirly-gigs.
Which LePage/GOP crony will get these right-of-ways?
Opening up Maine to tarsands oil – the dirtiest, most environmentally degradating substance and process there is. If we want to know what we can expect, there are numerous examples of operations gone wrong, and small towns across America being totally changed for the worst because of it. Time for us to wake up, and learn from those who have been fighting this for a long time… it’s a bad deal for us Mainers. We won’t benefit from the product – the transportation takes it to port where it’s exported for processing elsewhere, and doesn’t return. It produces tons and tons of waste, that has to go somewhere! And it uses millions of gallons of fresh water (which Maine has lots of) in the process, which then gets completely contaminated, and it too has to be stored somewhere. Educate yourselves. Don’t be fooled by the promises of temporary work. Only when the last tree has been cut, the last fish has been poisoned, and the last of the fresh water, polluted, will we realize we cannot eat money!!
How do tar sands oil come through underground power lines or gas lines? and why would it be sent through Maine from Southwest Canada, which seems to be the only place that is being commercially extracted in the world
About time to start thinking of the future of Maine !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are and it’s a new economy powered by very inexpensive electricity in such abundance we can install electric commuter trains. …or do you want more of the old future trapped in a fossil fueled energy economy?
About time. Canada is moving ahead with their HVDC line to New York Metro as the power from the N. Quebec projects is coming on line. World-wide many more are being planned…see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HVDC_projects
This project will help Maine for the future. We will get a boost. Forget the politics.