Falmouth residents rally against proposed CMP transmission line upgrade

"The transmission upgrades will also allow for more growth in the region and enable more climate-friendly electrification of existing infrastructure, said the CMP spokesperson."

As state regulators review the proposed project, residents question whether it’s needed.

Posted October 9
Updated October 12
Sophie Burchell
Staff Writer

EXCERPTS

When Roger Brothers moved to Falmouth with his young family three years ago, he didn’t think twice about the transmission lines running through an easement on his property. With towering trees running on both sides of the power corridor between his home and the suburban road, he said it felt like he lived in the woods, despite being just a five minute drive from Portland.

Now, some trees along the corridor will have to be cleared as the transmission line gets an upgrade, a project that has Brothers worried about the future of the land where he planned to raise his children. At a meeting with a dozen neighbors in August, he learned he was not alone in his concern.

“It’s really getting to the point where it could be too late. We really need our representatives to advocate for us and protect us. Please help us,” said Brothers at the Falmouth Town Council meeting on Sept. 28.

Maine utility regulators will soon deliberate whether to allow a transmission upgrade project running throughout the greater Portland area, and some abutters are sprinting to oppose the project in time.

Falmouth residents — primarily organized under the Alliance for Responsible Infrastructure, which includes concerned abutters of the project from neighboring communities — claim Central Maine Power’s proposed Greater Portland Transmission Upgrades Project would negatively impact the health, property value and woodlands of their communities.
“The impact on Falmouth will be sprawling and permanently scar its landscape,” said Jaime Batista, a leader of the Alliance for Responsible Infrastructure, which filed to become a nonprofit.

The proposed infrastructure project runs from Yarmouth down around Falmouth into Portland, with a separate leg going through Westbrook. It would upgrade two substations in Cumberland and Portland, build a new Portland substation, rebuild a transmission line between Cumberland and Falmouth and in Westbrook, and install a new transmission line between Portland and Cumberland.

The new poles for the transmission lines would range from 80-110 feet in height. Residents say this would tower above all the area’s foliage................................................

The transmission upgrades will also allow for more growth in the region and enable more climate-friendly electrification of existing infrastructure, said the CMP spokesperson.

“We realized we have some autonomy here,” said Smith.............................................

......................At the Falmouth Town Council meeting on Sept. 28, residents spoke for hours both against the proposed Greater Portland Transmission Upgrades Project and how CMP has failed to properly inform them about the plan, with many saying they heard about it within the past month or several days.

“I’m incredibly troubled by multiple reports that many property owners and key stakeholders heard little or absolutely nothing directly from CMP about a proposal with such significant implications,” said Councilor Alisa Morton at the meeting.

“This is a half a billion dollar project that has flown under the radar of many, many people,” said Councilor Sean Mahoney, who also disclosed that he works for Conservation Law Foundation, which is also an intervenor in this project...............................................................

Read the full article at https://www.pressherald.com/2026/10/09/falmouth-residents-rally-aga...

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Who we are (The group fighting this Portland area CMP project)

Alliance for Responsible Infrastructure

A coalition of landowners and residents across Falmouth, Cumberland, Portland, Westbrook and Yarmouth, organized under a written charter and participating as formal intervenors in the MPUC docket. Not a petition: a standing organization for legal and organizing purposes. Alliance for Responsible Infrastructure, Inc. is a Maine nonprofit that has filed notice with the IRS to operate as a 501(c)(4), to better advocate on behalf of impacted communities.

We're not anti-electrification, and we're not opposed to CMP as a matter of principle; we accept that Portland-area energy needs are growing. Our position is that CMP hasn't proven the scale of need it claims, that its proposed solution imposes concentrated harm on communities and the environment in towns north of Portland that will receive little to no benefit from it, when better solutions exist, and that a for-profit company performing a public function can't be trusted to self-correct without independent scrutiny.

https://www.stopthecmpline.com/

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