PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 29, 2022
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday ruled that Central Maine Power Co. has a valid lease to cross less than a mile of the state’s public lands in order to build a $1 billion electricity transmission line. The ruling overturns a 2021 lower court decision in which Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy ruled that the Maine Bureau of Public Lands did not have the authority to lease public reserve lands to CMP and NECEC Transmission LLC. “We are extremely disappointed with the decision that was made today,” said Tom Saviello, a former state legislator and lead organizer for Question 1. “In our opinion, the Maine Constitution clearly places a safeguard protecting our public lands from CMP’s development of a transmission line that provides little to no benefit to Maine consumers.