ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 30, 2020
A new referendum drive aimed at stopping a 145-mile hydropower transmission corridor in western Maine is underway. The Maine secretary of state on Friday provided the paperwork necessary for signature collection to begin, and referendum supporters plan to be at polling places with petitions on Election Day. It would be the second referendum targeting Central Maine Power’s $1 billion New England Clean Energy Connect. Opponents previously collected more than 63,000 signatures for a “People’s Veto” referendum, but it’s not on the Nov. 3 ballot because it was determined to be unconstitutional since a citizen referendum cannot be used to nullify regulatory decisions by state agencies. This time, the referendum calls for legislative approval of transmission lines longer than 50 miles, and a ban on high-impact transmission lines in the Upper Kennebec region. Both provisions aimed at the project would be retroactive to Sept. 16, 2020.