Gov. Janet Mills Wednesday vetoed two bills aimed at establishing more stringent standards for the approval of electric transmission lines. The bills passed the Legislature by large majorities. Rep. Seth Berry, of Bowdoinham, says the governor should not have vetoed them.
“It does not come as a surprise, but it is a mistake," Berry says. "This is a new kind of project, it’s a new ball game, if you will, that is being played, and we need rules that are commensurate with that ball game.”
Gov. Mills says the two bills, one that would give municipal officials say over use of eminent domain for power lines and another giving affected towns veto power on siting, grant too much control to a single community on a project serving many cities and towns.
