BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 4, 2023
Versant Power customers in northern Maine will not benefit from a transmission line connecting wind power generated there to the New England grid, yet will still be required to pay for it, the utility told state regulators in the only public comments on the closed-door negotiations for the project. In a filing Friday with the Maine Public Utilities Commission, Versant said it is not “fair or reasonable” to require the utility’s more than 35,000 Maine Public District customers in Aroostook County to pay the costs associated with the Aroostook Renewable Gateway project and Longroad wind farm northwest of Houlton. The 140- to 160-mile transmission line proposed by New York-based LS Power would not interconnect Versant’s Maine Public District with the New England grid, the utility said.