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Poll results

Central Maine Power’s controversial $950 million New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project in western Maine received a critical “certificate of public convenience and necessity” last Thursday from the Maine Public Utilities Commission. Additional hurdles remain as it makes its way through regulatory reviews by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Land Use Planning Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But a new wrinkle in the approval process has been introduced in the Legislature, where at least two bills have been introduced adding new requirements on CMP before its proposed 145-mile transmission line could be built. One bill would require CMP to receive approval in public votes from every town in the corridor before its transmission line is built. Another would mandate a study of the project’s greenhouse gas emissions before it can proceed. But Anthony Buxton, an attorney at Preti Flaherty representing the Industrial Energy Consumers Group, which supports CMP’s project, says partisan politics shouldn’t be allowed to override “the considered judgment” of regulatory officials. “If we have a process which allows a party to file for one solution and then have it reversed by the political process, what we have is no regulatory process at all,” he told the Bangor Daily News.

Do you agree that lawmakers should not interfere with regulatory processes already under way for CMP’s project?
Yes (42%, 1053 VOTES)
No (58%, 1432 VOTES)
Poll Description

Central Maine Power’s controversial $950 million New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project in western Maine received a critical “certificate of public convenience and necessity” last Thursday from the Maine Public Utilities Commission. Additional hurdles remain as it makes its way through regulatory reviews by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Land Use Planning Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But a new wrinkle in the approval process has been introduced in the Legislature, where at least two bills have been introduced adding new requirements on CMP before its proposed 145-mile transmission line could be built. One bill would require CMP to receive approval in public votes from every town in the corridor before its transmission line is built. Another would mandate a study of the project’s greenhouse gas emissions before it can proceed. But Anthony Buxton, an attorney at Preti Flaherty representing the Industrial Energy Consumers Group, which supports CMP’s project, says partisan politics shouldn’t be allowed to override “the considered judgment” of regulatory officials. “If we have a process which allows a party to file for one solution and then have it reversed by the political process, what we have is no regulatory process at all,” he told the Bangor Daily News.

  • 2485 Votes
  • 49 Comments
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49 Comments

  • April 17, 2019
    New Hampshire voted this down so why do Maine politicians think this is good. Other than it's money in their pockets. The Maine people should vote on this.
  • April 17, 2019
    If the corridor was proposed along the coastal shoreline, this wouldn't even be considered, it would immediately be denied.
  • April 17, 2019

    The corridor is bad for Maine in many respects. It will not deliver the return suggested by proponents, but it will cause irreparable harm and set precedent that our natural resources and the opinions and people of the effected region are not as valuable as out of state money. Also, as others noted, this question is poorly phrased.

  • April 17, 2019
    The legislators know the will of the people they represent. They aren't swayed by the cushy job promises from the utility companies like the MPUC commishioners present and past who are waiting for their golden ticket for looking the otherway. They know what the impact will be and when it's done Maine will be no better off, poorer, have pristine land permanently destroyed all so a company in Spain can make billions. The short trem effects on any revenue seen won't offset those of us who have been (and continue to be) bilked by CMP. The legislature needs to put the brakes on this. The citizens of Maine don't want this going through our state.
  • April 17, 2019
    If Massachusetts needs more electrical power then they should look to wind, solar, or hydroelectric solutions and not require Maine’s ecosystems to be destroyed by running power lines through our state of Maine. Manage your electricity consumption or use solar, wind or hydro solutions.