At a special town meeting Thursday night, Troy residents unanimously approved a new ordinance regulating large-scale solar and wind energy projects, and electrical transmission lines and corridors.
Selectman Rick Montana said the ordinance was prompted by the power line LS Power has proposed to connect a planned wind energy project in southern Aroostook County to the central Maine electrical grid.
"It caught a lot of people by surprise," he said. "They were not prepared for the scope of the project and how it was going to affect their properties."
Montana said Troy had already passed a temporary moratorium on power lines, as have some other towns along the project's proposed route. And he expects other towns to also draft similar energy ordinances.
Meanwhile, LS Power says it has paused work on the power line project, pending contract negotiations with the Maine Public Utilities Commission. The PUC expects to deliberate on the contract sometime in the next month.
