Maine lawmakers are debating a new state agency that would use low-interest government borrowing to help pay for electric grid upgrades.
State Senator Mark Lawrence, D-Eliot, told a panel of lawmakers that the state needs new transmission lines to connect potential new power generation to the New England electric grid.
Electric customers shoulder the costs of expensive transmission projects, and a Maine Transmission Authority could use low-interest state bonds to reduce the price of development, Lawrence told a panel of lawmakers.
Maine has been an electricity consumer for the last century, Lawrence said. But new transmission to areas with the potential to make new power from resources including solar and wind could make the state into a electric generator for the region, he added.
"You've heard me long argue that Maine needs to go from being a consumer of electricity to being an exporter of electricity. That's the way we are going to reduce rates in the state of Maine and that's the way we're going to grow the economy in the state of Maine," Lawrence said.
As written, Lawrence's bill would give the authority extra powers, including the ability to take land through eminent domain and to offer financing for generation projects.
Lawrence told the committee he didn't mean for those provisions to be included and he wants the proposal to solely focus on financing for transmission.
Critics of the measure from some Maine business groups questioned its apparent unlimited borrowing authority and said requirements to use union labor on financed projects would exclude the vast majority of contractors and developers in the state.
Kelly Flagg, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of Maine trade group said the proposal was a huge expansion of power in a rushed bill and lawmakers should reject the measure as presented or hold it for more significant discussion.
"There's just a lot of work to be done here in a very, very short period of time in order for this to be effective in the way it was intended," Flagg said.
