ALERT: New CMP power line selected as 'preferred' solution to improve regional power flows
Maine Public | By Peter McGuire
Published July 28, 2026 at 4:15 PM EDT
Electric grid operator ISO-New England is recommending the region select a $2.2 billion transmission line proposed by Central Maine Power to improve power flows in the region.
ISO-NE presented its "preliminary preferred solution" to a planning advisory committee Tuesday. The project is a response to a request for proposals issued by New England states as part of a regional long-term transmission planning initiative. The project cost would be paid off by electric customers.
The joint proposal from CMP and Eversource would build new high voltage transmission lines from southern New Hampshire to Pittsfield, Maine.
A goal of the project is to lay the groundwork to connect with 1,200 megawatts of planned wind power in Aroostook County, according to the grid operator.
CMP spokesperson Jon Breed says the development would also alleviate congestion on the grid and make it easier to transfer electricity between southern New England and northern Maine.
"This isn't one project that is an answer to one specific need," Breed said. "This is all six states looking at the regional grid and determining what is the best way forward; what do we need to ensure that we are making the right investments now so we aren't running into problems later."
Please continue reading at https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2026-07-28/new-cmp-power-line-s...
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Comment
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Comment by Dan McKay on July 30, 2026 at 7:18am
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As we all know, who have taken out a mortgage or any type of loan requiring incremental payments, the costs escalates dramatically. So a $2.20 billion proposal over 20 years require an annual payment of $4.726 billion. 20 years times $4.726 equals $94.52 billion. The real cost, but this can escalate further with requests for further charges due to construction overruns, like what happened to NECEC.
Who, in their right mind, would accept this kind of expenditure of money for roughly 400 megawatts of ineffective wind energy.
Below is ISO-NE's Longer-Term Proposal Costs:
6.8 Longer-Term Proposal Costs
Proposals A1 and A2 had installed costs of $2.20 billion and $2.14 billion, respectively (nominal
dollars). These costs represent the total capital costs required to build each proposal. The annual
revenue requirement (ARR) for each proposal was then determined over the first 20 years of each
proposal’s life to be $4.726 billion for A1 and $4.590 for A2. The ARR represents the yearly amount
that a transmission owner must collect to recover the initial investment (via depreciation) plus
return on equity and debt, taxes, and O&M. The sum of the first 20 years of nominal ARRs is
significantly higher than the installed cost because it includes the initial investment (depreciation),
the return on equity and debt, taxes, and O&M across two decades
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ISO-NE IS has a new CEO. A real kool-aid drinker. What he is doing is falling right into the hands of Troy Jackson and Seth Berry who are conspiring to takeover CMP and Versant and turn Maine into a renewable energy plantation to sell wind and solar to Southern New England States. Our state is not for sale for the ideological sickness other state governments have brought upon themselves. I believe this project will require a CPCN certificate, which requires deliberations by stakeholders.
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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