Maine anti-corridor group hit with ethics complaint that could force it to disclose donors

By Michael Shepherd, BDN Staff • January 17, 2020 3:49 pm
Updated: January 17, 2020 4:21 pm

AUGUSTA, Maine — A dark-money group that has aired ads opposing Central Maine Power’s proposed hydropower corridor was hit with a Friday ethics complaint by a political committee funded by the utility in a move that could force the group to disclose donors.

It’s the second ethics complaint in the nascent campaign over the $1 billion corridor that would take Hydro-Quebec power to the regional grid with a 145-mile transmission line through western Maine as opponents collect signatures to put a question on the 2020 ballot to kill the project, which has won two required permits from regulators and awaits others.

During the final three months of 2019, CMP dumped $2.3 million into a political committee opposing the referendum bid. On Friday, that committee, Clean Energy Matters, filed a complaint with the Maine Ethics Commission against Stop the Corridor, a nonprofit that has not disclosed donors and has run $1.3 million in TV and Facebook ads against the project.

Filings with the commission indicate that Stop the Corridor gave nearly $50,000 in in-kind contributions to a political committee run by project opponents. That committee, No CMP Corridor, raised more than $26,000 in other contributions by December’s end.

The complaint alleges Stop the Corridor violated Maine law that makes entities register as political committees if they raise or spend more than $1,500 in a calendar year to influence a political campaign and that is its major purpose. If the nonprofit is forced to register as a political committee, it would have to disclose past donors and it could pay a fine.

Continue reading at: https://bangordailynews.com/2020/01/17/politics/maine-anti-corridor...

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Comment by Penny Gray on January 18, 2020 at 5:44pm

Well, then I'm definitely dreaming, but I'd sure like to know who it is.

Comment by arthur qwenk on January 18, 2020 at 2:42pm

American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)  perhaps at work here?

Comment by Penny Gray on January 18, 2020 at 9:33am

Be mighty interesting to know who's behind the donations.  Maybe they'd be interested in funding the fight to stop the destruction of Maine's mountains, wildlife and waters for the benefit of southern New England...or am I dreaming?

 

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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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