The Maine Republican Caucus got the first look this week at a proposed transmission line route designed to move electricity from Aroostook County to the New England grid.
The Central Maine Power/Avangrid 1,200-megawatt transmission line, connecting northern Maine to the regional grid through substations in Haynesville and Pittsfield, is part of the planned Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development Program.
The 108-mile route already has some Mainers concerned about how it will affect their homes, farms, and northern Maine’s abundant wildlife and wilderness.
The discussion with legislators was one of many that will take place over the coming weeks and months as engineering, environmental review, permitting and other planning activities move forward, CMP officials said.
“We have begun briefing stakeholders, including elected officials, about the project, and those conversations will continue as development advances and additional details are refined,” CMP spokesman Jonathan Breed said.
In August, the Maine Public Utilities Commission chose CMP from an undisclosed list of bidders to enter into contract negotiations for the development and construction of the project’s transmission line portion.
The utility’s proposal for a transmission line from Pittsfield to Haynesville was the best for the state, commissioners said, citing CMPs planned use of existing transmission corridors.
“By following existing corridors and rights-of-way where transmission infrastructure already exists, we can minimize community impacts, reduce environmental disturbance, and limit uncertainty as the project moves forward,” Breed said.
The regulators also chose Clearway Energy Group LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, for an 800-megawatt onshore wind project that will generate electricity for transmission to the grid.
The procurement is a multistate effort that also involves Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island. With five New England states sharing in regional transmission project costs, Maine ratepayers could pay much less of the overall cost for a northern project, according to clean energy experts.
The commission’s selection is an important milestone, but the project remains at the beginning of a multiyear development process, Breed said. Before construction can begin, work will include engineering, environmental review, permitting, agency coordination and stakeholder engagement.
Timeline
| 2021 | Maine establishes RFP structure in statute |
| 2021-2023 | First Northern Maine RFP |
| 2025 | Northern Maine RFP re-issued |
| 2026 | Project selection and award to Avangrid |
| 2027-2031 | Design, engineering, permitting (MPUC, USAC, DEP, local) |
| 2031 | Construction begins |
| 2033 | Project in-service date |
CMP aims for a “transparent process” that will include input from communities, landowners, local officials, tribes and other stakeholders, he said. The project will address constraints that have limited northern Maine’s connection to the regional grid.
Rep. Matthew McIntyre, R-Lowell, attended this week’s meeting with CMP. From what he could see on the map, a portion goes through his district, House District 18, he said.
McIntyre said he is cautiously optimistic and sees a potential benefit, but has many questions and wants to make sure the project will actually benefit Maine ratepayers.
“I believe Maine is facing an energy crisis that we must address,” he said. “The decisions that are being made in Augusta, and not just the legislative branch but executive branch, have resulted in the condition that we are currently in.”
He is sensitive to the concerns of rural Mainers who do not want an energy project near their homes and those who struggle to pay escalating power bills, he said.
“This project is designed to facilitate moving power out of the state and I want to make sure that whatever the end result is that there is a tangible benefit to Maine ratepayers,” he said. “This contract award is in such infancy, the project recipients still have to navigate layers and layers of gateways, permitting processes and financing that go into a project.”
The PUC declined a Bangor Daily News request for all the bids submitted to the regulator for the generation and transmission portions of the project, citing a 10-year-old precedent.
According to a new state law, beginning Jan. 1, 2026, all records and documents regarding the competitive bidding process, including question-and-answer summaries, evaluation team packets and award decision letters, are public documents.
This is the commission’s second attempt to solicit bids for generation and transmission from northern Maine to the New England power grid under a 2021 state law, following the failed King Pine Wind and LS Power project.
The King Pine and LS Power project was plagued by a complicated contracting process, long delays and cost increases. State regulators reopened the project’s bid window in April only after taking measured steps to avoid a similar fate.
“The map released [this week] shows the location of the Haynesville substation only as a square,” Tanya Blanchard of Landowner’s Voice said. “It does not provide a site plan or indicate how much land the new substation will occupy. We don’t yet have the current design details.”
As the development moves forward, CMP will work closely with communities, landowners, and stakeholders to ensure the project is planned and delivered responsibly and transparently, Breed said.
A group of Haynesville residents, concerned that their way of life will be drastically altered with the addition of the project’s substation, have formed the Haynesville Maine Residents MPUC-Avangrid Substation Awareness Group.
In this Aroostook County town of 97, there are no stores and no gas stations — and some residents said they like it that way.
“That’s why we are here. It’s a recluse’s paradise,” resident Alan Trudeau said. “There’s nothing but wilderness and abundant wildlife.”
The Haynesville group, which started meeting last month, has presented to the select board a signed petition for a new ordinance related to energy development. The ordinance calls for a pause on substation activity, new transmission lines, wind farms, solar farms and data centers, said Trudeau, the document’s creator.
“The moratorium is only temporary, up to 180 days, and we can vote to extend it for another 180 days,” he said. “It’s a beautiful place and to have a substation of this magnitude come into this town is scary. It’s something that we don’t want but it sounds to me like we have no choice. We are hoping it will come up at the Tuesday select board meeting.”
The Haynesville Select Board meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the town office on Danville Road.
