AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine energy regulators will kill a developer’s plan to build an Aroostook County wind transmission line and request new bids due to price uncertainties around the crucial project.
“Significant differences” have emerged in months of negotiations between Maine Public Utilities Commission staff and New York-based LS Power, Phil Bartlett, the chair of the commission, said during a roughly 12-minute Thursday hearing at which commissioners announced their plans.
The company plans to build a transmission line from southern Aroostook County to a new substation near Windsor. It would connect the New England grid to the 170-plus-turbine King Pine Wind project from Boston-based Longroad Energy. It would become the largest on-shore wind farm east of the Mississippi River and produce enough power for about 450,000 homes.
On Thursday, two commissioners supported asking for new bids on the project. The dispute over pricing will likely delay the project for months. It could have implications for Maine’s energy future, as a supporter of the project recently told the commission that the wind power would cost between 5 and 6 cents per kilowatt hour — or half the price of the current standard rate.
But Bartlett said that LS Power has “made clear” it can no longer hold to its initial price and that the company had not included a binding price in its proposal. That was unacceptable and unfair to past bidders, he said.
“This is a nonstarter,” Bartlett said.
Commissioner Patrick Scully agreed with Bartlett, adding that LS Power’s plan would start to shift a “substantial amount of risk” to ratepayers. Scully added that was inconsistent with a previously approved “term sheet” for the project. The third commission member, Carolyn Gilbert, recused herself from Thursday’s discussion.
A spokesperson confirmed after Thursday’s brief meeting the agency intends to start a new procurement process that will officially begin when commissioners issue a formal order.
LS Power respects but is “disappointed” in the commission’s decision to reopen bidding, Doug Mulvey, a vice president for the company, said in a statement. Additional requirements and risks not included in the firm’s initial bid “became hurdles we could not overcome,” but LS Power remains open to working with the commission and lawmakers, Mulvey added.
“It is clear to us that improvements will need to be made in order for Maine to realize the project’s benefits, including establishing a financeable set of contract provisions that are known by all bidders upfront,” he said.
In 2022, the commission approved LS Power’s initial plan to build the transmission line and later also approved the wind farm, estimating most Maine residential electric customers would pay an extra $1 per month for a 60 percent share in the project, with Massachusetts ratepayers covering the remaining 40 percent. The Legislature and Gov. Janet Mills signed off on the transmission line and wind farm project this summer.
But in recent months, developers and regulators were bogged down in negotiations over the purchase and transmission service agreements. Numerous municipalities along the potential route have also passed moratoriums and ordinances formally opposing the project.
The utilities commission chose the two companies last year in two separate bids because they had the lowest combined amount for the project and had the experience to build it, Bartlett previously said.
Initial estimates said the entire project would cost ratepayers $1.7 billion over 30 years. The cost of the power line was expected to be $2.8 billion, but it would be offset by lower electricity prices driven by the wind turbines over 20 years.
Gov. Janet Mills’ energy office remains “committed to expeditiously advancing new clean energy procurements that deliver cost-effective renewable energy, and we intend to closely evaluate this outcome and engage with partners” about the project’s future, director Dan Burgess said.
“New, cost-effective clean energy generation and transmission is critical to stabilizing energy costs, reducing reliance on harmful fossil fuels and driving job creation and investment for the benefit of Maine people and communities,” Burgess said.
