BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 19, 2021
A heated debate over potential alternative routes for Central Maine Power Co.’s hydropower corridor took center stage at a Tuesday hearing aimed at determining whether the utility can proceed with its $1 billion project or must make changes costing tens of millions of dollars. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection held the hearing to consider whether it should suspend a permit it granted last year for Central Maine Power Co.’s $1 billion hydropower project. It was prompted by a judge’s August ruling that the state had no authority to issue CMP a lease for public land comprising about a mile of the corridor in rural Somerset County. If the lease is negated, other state approvals could unravel.