Maine revives Aroostook County wind power project
Maine Public | By Peter McGuire
Published December 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM EST
Maine utility regulators are jumpstarting a major new wind power development and electric transmission line in Northern Maine.
The Public Utilities Commission released a request for proposals last week and asked private developers to submit bids for the project by the end of February.
The agency intends to build turbines that can produce up to 1,200 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 475,000 homes. The development is meant to be paired with a major new transmission line linking wind generation near Houlton to an upgraded substation in Pittsfield.
PUC Chair Phil Bartlett said in an interview that the project offers New England an opportunity for significant new inexpensive power at a time of surging electricity demand and high prices.
"Whether you support renewable energy or not, we think this is a really valuable project because it is going to inject a lot of new energy at a when we are going to need it," Bartlett said.
The PUC awarded a similar contract for a power and transmission project in 2022, but cancelled the deal about a year later over cost concerns.
"With the expectation that we will continue to see demand for electricity to grow in the next 10 years this really is much needed to make sure we have the resources available in the region to provide electricity reliably," Bartlett said.
In a press release, Dan Burgess acting commissioner of the Maine Department of Energy Resources said the commission's request for proposals is "a critical step toward unlocking more affordable, reliable clean energy for Maine and the region."
Continue reading at https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2025-12-22/maine-revives-aroost...
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Comment
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Comment by Willem Post 7 hours ago
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Great comments, Dan
That 300 mile power line to New Hampshire is a subsidy to the moneyed elites to fatten their 25-year, no risk tax shelters.
Those tax shelters follow traditional Wall Street tax shelters structures.
With enough subsidies, you can gold-plate anything that looks utterly foolish, on hindsight,
The midlands of Ireland are being used by the UK to produce electricity.
Ireland has become a energy colony of the UK, just as Maine is an energy colony of Mass and Conn
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Comment by Dan McKay 10 hours ago
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Bartlett fails to mention that any wind project charges for Renewable Energy Certificates on top of the energy charge. The Power Purchase Agreements conducted by the PUC do not include this subsidy which can add 5 cents per kilowatt hour. The PUC conceals this information from the public. Every Renewable Energy Certificate is an add on to the supply portion of monthly bills. Is this the type of behavior one should expect from someone who determines what will be paid for electricity? Bartlett should be fired.
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All demand needs could be met easily by allowing the expansion of natural gas pipelines in New England. Bartlett is only going to fight for the Democrat's who would rather chokehold Maine electric customers. He needs to go.
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Bartlett's gaslighting is getting old. Building out transmission from the Northern tip of Maine to the New Hampshire border would be the most expensive utility endeavor that Maine ratepayers have ever funded for little more than 400 megawatts of subsidized electricity, produced at sputtering intervals, totally out of sync with demand
Remember, Bartlett is a Democrat entrusted in a position to protect ratepayers against waste, corruption and fraud, which this project is the worst example Maine has ever seen.
Bartlett should resign.
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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