Maine, CMP revise lease at heart of corridor proposal, but legal questions remain

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 30, 2020

The administration of Gov. Janet Mills revised a lease at the center of Central Maine Power’s corridor proposal on the same day a lawsuit was filed raising questions about the state’s ability to unilaterally allow changes to public lands. CMP will now have to pay $65,000 a year to use a 300-foot wide, one-mile stretch of land that the power line will pass through. A lawsuit filed on the same day by opponents of the project over the earlier lease is one of several affecting the $1 billion project as it faces a referendum in November that could serve as a rebuke of the powerline. The corridor looks to be widely unpopular but is backed by politicians — including Mills and LePage — who have defended it from legislative challenges.