Maine PUC selects developer for 800 megawatt northern Maine wind power project
Maine Public | By Peter McGuire
Published August 25, 2026 at 6:05 PM EDT '
Maine utility regulators have selected two companies to develop untapped wind power resources in Aroostook County, part of an eagerly anticipated clean energy project supported by most New England states.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday selected Clearway Energy Group LLC to develop wind turbines that can generate 800 megawatts of electricity in Northern Maine.
Commissioners also chose Central Maine Power parent company Avangrid to develop a new high voltage power line to connect the proposed wind turbines to the New England regional electric grid.
The planned resources is one of the only opportunities to develop significant renewable energy in the entire region. The proposed wind farm would be the largest in Maine, which now has about 900 total megawatts of land-based wind generation.
Commission Chair Phil Bartlett said the project will save Maine electric customers at least $387 million over its lifetime.
"These transmission and generation projects will bring substantial economic benefits to the state, creating thousands of full-time jobs during construction and $2.4 billion in economic output," Bartlett said in a statement.
The transmission side of the project could also connect Aroostook County directly to the New England power system, a precursor to developing the area's substantial renewable energy resources, said PUC Commissioner Patrick Scully.
"In my prior career, I saw up close the challenge of siting new energy projects in northern Maine, caused by the cost of building long transmission facilities to access the New England market, and the significant congestion on existing transmission infrastructure," Scully said.
The PUC plans to buy 600 megawatts of power from the project, with the remainder being delivered to other New England states, according to spokesperson Susan Faloon.
The price of electricity would be paid by Maine electric customers, who will also pay about 11% of the transmission line, according to the commission. Authorities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont were involved in the procurement, according to the PUC.
Further details of the proposed deal will be available after the commission finalizes a power purchase contract with Clearway, Faloon said.
Nick Benjamin, Clearway's northeastern development director, in an interview said the project is planned for commercial timberland in rural, unincorporated southeast Aroostook County.
Major site attributes include existing roads, proximity to electric transmission right of way and reliable wind speeds, Benjamin said.
"This project is going to keep energy costs stable for Maine families and business for decades to come, while bringing material economic investment to Northern Maine and meeting the state and region's grid needs," Benjamin added.
It will take years to permit and develop the project and building new generation is contingent on a new transmission line, according to the commission.
The Maine Legislature directed the PUC to develop wind generation and transmission in northern Maine in 2021. An earlier project fell through in late 2023 after negotiations over the power line failed.
Continue reading at https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2026-08-25/maine-puc-selects-de...
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Comment
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Comment by Dan McKay on August 27, 2026 at 8:24am
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"Commission Chair Phil Bartlett said the project will save Maine electric customers at least $387 million over its lifetime. "We will never see the spreadsheets that provide this questionable data, but Bartlett and the Cartel are doing their mighty best to raise the cost of electricity to the point that these long term contract prices become lower than the kilowatt prices on monthly bills and as always blaming rising costs on the price of natural gas.This has been going on since 2009 with the Rollins Wind Power Purchase Agreement, which still costs ratepayers with every kilowatt it produces.
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The Maine PUC has approved over 1300 megawatts of capacity in 20 year long term renwable contracts. Add Net Energy Billing 20 year contracts of 1334 megawatts and Maine's annual peak electrical demand of 2031 megawatts has been exceeded by 603 megawatts.
This means the first goal in making Maine the Wind and Solar Slave Plantation for New England has been acheived. Contract more wind and solar power than Maine can use.
Next step, take over in-state electric utilities, expand wind and solar and extort money from other New England States hungry for renewable credit, but lacking the space and will to site wind and solar projects. Troy Jackson and Seth Berry have already concocted this plan.
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This just shows how low Bartlett will go to please the renewable energy lobby.
Having said that, a curious statement made by the reporter explains the quiet part out loud and clear:
"The Maine Legislature directed the PUC to develop wind generation and transmission in northern Maine in 2021."
This is what we suspected all along. A regulatory agency has been assigned by the State Legislators to be a wind developer in Maine and have dutifully accepted this assignment. Doesn't that seem to be a little beyond regulating?
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
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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