AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine's former governor says that he was paid by a lobbying firm to advocate for the state utility's hydropower corridor. Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage says in a statement Monday to the Bangor Daily News that he was paid $7,500 last year by a high-powered lobbying firm to promote Central Maine Power's $1 billion proposal.
The firm Mitchell Tardy Jackson has been working with the utility since last year to fend off legislative proposals aimed at killing the proposal.
The project would bring Hydro-Quebec power to the regional grid through a 145-mile transmission line. It has become a hot button issue for LePage's Democratic successor Gov. Janet Mills.