MAINE PUBLIC • July 20, 2021
In one of its final votes of the session, the Legislature approved a joint order asserting that a lease negotiated between the state and Central Maine Power for the utility's transmission corridor should have been approved by a vote by state lawmakers. While nonbinding, the order could affect a lawsuit brought by project opponents who say the lease agreements violated the state constitution. The 28-6 vote in the Senate and the 66-57 vote in the House on Monday centered on a key claim in the lawsuit that's currently in superior court. A group of corridor opponents says the state should have sought the Legislatsure's approval before leasing roughly 33 acres of public land in the West Forks area to CMP. The Bureau of Public lands contends that the lease agreement negotiated during the LePage administration and signed off by the Attorney General's Office -- then overseen by Mills, the former AG -- did not require lawmakers' approval.