State regulators reopen northern Maine power line bids
by Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli
4/29/26
The Maine Public Utilities Commission has reopened the bid window for the development and construction of a northern Maine energy generation project and a transmission line to connect with the ISO-New England grid.
The project, the Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development Program, is a second attempt to solicit bids under a 2021 Maine law ordering bids for northern Maine power generation and transmission, following the failed King Pine Wind and LS Power project.
The reopened bidding process launched Monday. When completed, the project could save Mainers hundreds of millions of dollars, energy experts said.
The King Pine and LS Power project was plagued by a complicated contracting process, long delays and cost increases. Keeping the lessons learned from the failed project in mind, state regulators have taken measured steps to solicit feedback from potential developers.
In this go-round, the PUC worked several information and feedback opportunities into the process before drafting the RFP. It joined with other New England states to share in the cost that could eventually reduce the state’s dependence on natural gas given the volatility of that market.
With all six New England states sharing in the costs for regional transmission investments, Maine ratepayers could pay much less of the overall cost for a project in the northern part of the state, according to clean energy experts.
Reopening the bid window allows as many bidders as possible to develop proposals and participate, bringing the northern Maine generation and transmission line one step closer to reality, according to the public utilities commission’s order issued on Monday afternoon.
Continue reading at https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/04/29/aroostook/aroostook-gove...
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Comment by Dan McKay 3 hours ago
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Phil Bartlett the film flam man is still at it, promoting losers. The PUC regulates electricity delivery and only delivery. The PUC has been illegally involved in selecting generation resources causing price hikes in electricity and should be held accountable for their indiscretion towards the law. Now, they are crossing state lines with their indiscretion, burdening unsuspecting ratepayers throughout all of New England. Are you listening, New Hampshire?
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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