With $1.4 billion and up to 6,000 jobs on the line, there’s no question that a newly announced expansion project from Central Maine Power will benefit the economy.
The only question is whether such enormous expansion of high- voltage lines, which will run through communities throughout Maine and at a significant expense to ratepayers, is necessary to shore up Maine’s connection to the New England power grid.
The project would include running the largest lines (345-kilovolt) in the grid and the 75-foot towers that hold them 350 miles from Penobscot County to New Hampshire. While this expansion might well be necessary, as CMP claims it is, exploring alternative options like energy conservation and line upgrades is imperative.
The project will face a review by the Maine Public Utilities Commission, before it goes to local authorities for permitting. People who want to testify before the PUC need to file with the state by July 25.
The plans would include a new, 345-kilovolt transmission line, which would run from Orrington, 15 miles south of Bangor, to Newington, N.H., passing through Detroit, Benton, Windsor, Lewiston, Yarmouth, Gorham and Eliot. In addition, smaller, 115-kilovolt lines would be run off of the larger lines. Other local towns in the path of the lines include Scarborough, South Portland, Saco, Westbrook and Gorham.
Maine ratepayers would pick up 8.5 percent of the cost of the $1.4 billion project, as they do for any expansion of the New England power grid inside or outside of the state. While some might argue the state should encourage this project because it will create thousands of jobs for construction workers and engineers with Maine ratepayers picking up only a small percentage of the cost, every project on the power grid contributes to the electric rates we pay. In other words, the same logic used elsewhere would lead to higher rates for everyone.
This project could also detract from property values and the quality of life for those with a home or business near where one of these lines will run. Experts say high-voltage lines pose little health risks to people, unless they are directly under them, but few of us would want to live with a 345-kilovolt line in our back yard.
Engineers have undoubtedly tried to route this line through more rural areas, but avoiding people entirely, particularly in the more densely populated portions of southern Maine, is impossible.
State authorities need to make sure running these large, new lines through these areas is the best option for all of us living on the grid.
Brendan Moran, editor
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