The Jay Planning Board voted Tuesday night against recusing three members as the panel prepares to decide a permit Central Maine Power needs for its controversial transmission corridor.
The Sun Journal reports that the board’s other five members voted 5-0 against recusing Delance White and 4-1 against recusing Susan Theberge and Linda Flagg.
That vote comes after an attorney for CMP, Matthew Manahan of Pierce Atwood, asked that the three be recused over their opposition to the 145-mile transmission corridor. But the panel sent the message Tuesday that it believes White, Theberge and Flagg can set aside their opinions before deciding on the utility’s shoreland zoning permit application.
Seven miles of the corridor will run through Jay, and six of 38 poles and three two-pole structures will be regulated by the Franklin County town’s shoreland zoning ordinance, according to the Sun Journal.
In June 2019, Jay residents voted overwhelmingly to oppose the transmission corridor in a show-of-hands vote.
The $1 billion transmission project, known as the New England Clean Energy Connect, would bring Canadian hydro power to customers in Massachusetts. That project includes 53 new miles of corridor and upgrades to existing power lines running through western Maine, where opposition among residents is strong.