Maine Public Advocate sues to block New Hampshire transmission line
Maine Public | By Peter McGuire
Published May 13, 2026 at 3:55 PM EDT
The Maine Office of the Public Advocate has launched a legal challenge to block a 49-mile power line rebuilding project in New Hampshire.
The $360 million project called X-178 would replace 49 miles of transmission line and nearly 580 utility poles in western New Hampshire.
Maine Public Advocate Heather Sanborn said owner Eversource Energy Service Co. hasn't proven that the entire line needs to be replaced. Instead Eversource is trying to "shoehorn" a full rebuild into an asset condition project, Sanborn said.
Those project are meant to repair damaged equipment and do not have the same level of regulatory oversight and planning that large-scale transmission developments do, according to Sanborn.
"The asset condition process is supposed to be limited to transmission assets that are damaged or destroyed," Sanborn said in an interview.
"It's not supposed to be for the full rebuild of a non-damaged transmission line that is fully functioning" with more than 90% of its utility poles in good quality, Sanborn added.
Electric customers across New England share the cost of new transmission lines and upgrades. Maine would shoulder about 10% of the cost, said Public Advocate Heather Sanborn.
"So it is really important that all the states have the opportunity to scrutinize this particular transmission line, because we are all going to have to pay for it," Sanborn said.
Continue reading at https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2026-05-13/maine-public-advocat...
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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
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(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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