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The Rural Maine Reporting Project is made possible through the generous support of the Betterment Fund.

Clean Energy Vs. Pristine Forest? Divided Mainers Weigh In On CMP Transmission Project

Fred Bever
/
Maine Public
Helena Kelley, 11, of Portland, speaks out against the CMP project at a public hearing Wednesday night in Farmington.

State environmental regulators took public testimony last night on Central Maine Power’s proposed 145-mile transmission line through western Maine, including 53 miles of newly-cleared corridor through the western Maine forest. More than 300 people attended the hearing at the University of Maine’s Farmington campus. Project opponents turned out in force, but a number of supporters spoke as well.

Under a contract with Massachusetts utilities, the project would bring renewable energy from Canadian dams into this region’s electricity grid.

Christopher Ayres of Pownal, who described himself as an avid outdoorsman and photographer, said he favors the project because it represents a significant down payment on the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Already in my back yard, on the coast of Maine and around Baxter Park, which I routinely visit, I see first-hand undeniable changes in bird migration patterns and their food sources, such as insects. It is clear to me that global climate change is the existential crisis of our time.”

Credit Fred Bever / Maine Public
/
Maine Public
Those who wish to testify at the environmental hearing in Farmington on the CMP transmission line project are sworn in.

But many see the project itself as the imminent threat. Daryl Wood, of New Sharon, says he often visits the area where the new powerline would be constructed to hunt, snowmobile and fish what is the nation’s largest population of native brook trout.

“I travel to that area for the sense of wilderness that comes from not seeing manmade structures," Wood said. "I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that experience is priceless, and when it is gone it is gone forever. In my opinion this project negatively impacts the scenic character of the view shed and it will negatively affect the experience of visitors and harm small businesses in the area.”

The state’s Land Use Planning Commission and the Department of Environmental Protection are trying to determine the reasonableness of the project’s potential effects on habitat, water resources, scenic values, potential mitigation – and whether there is a reasonable alternative. 

Some called for the line to buried, or placed closer to existing roads. Suzanne Theberge, of Jay, read a statement on behalf of Peter Theberge, taking aim at the powerful interests and governments behind the project, including CMP’s owner, Spain-based Iberdrola.

“While the vast majority of benefits go to Quebec, Spain and Massachusetts, Maine is left with a division between the residents of the state and its government and agencies bigger than any corridor will be," she read. "That is, of course, in addition to the corridor itself. Especially when considering future expansions of this corridor, now is the time to reject this proposal."

Several project supporters urged the panel to accept the environmental value of the low-polluting hydro-electricity from Canada as vital to slowing climate change. And Kimberly Lindlof, director of the mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce said that was part of protecting the region’s economy.

“It will be very good for the environment as well as the economy," Lindlof said. "After all, our robust tourism industry calls on  us to maintain clean air, healthy water bodies and seasonal changes that support snowmobiling as well as fishing  and hunting. The land on which CMP plans to develop the new corridor is commercial forest with hundreds of miles of logging roads that currently exist."

The hearings continue through the end of the week, with another for the general public scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the University of Maine Farmington.

Originally published 6:11 a.m. April 3, 2019

Updated 1:52 p.m. April 4, 2019

A Columbia University graduate, Fred began his journalism career as a print reporter in Vermont, then came to Maine Public in 2001 as its political reporter, as well as serving as a host for a variety of Maine Public Radio and Maine Public Television programs. Fred later went on to become news director for New England Public Radio in Western Massachusetts and worked as a freelancer for National Public Radio and a number of regional public radio stations, including WBUR in Boston and NHPR in New Hampshire.