BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 25, 2023
LS Power wanted to minimize the risk of their multi-billion-dollar bid for a 160-mile transmission line that would bring wind power through Aroostook County and onto the New England grid. So they asked the Maine Legislature in March to approve the project, and by June they received it. The approval was required under provisions of the citizen initiative passed by voters in 2021 that also had aimed, unsuccessfully, to derail another large project — a Central Maine Power Co. affiliate’s hydropower line through western Maine. Some Republican lawmakers questioned whether more information, including the final route for the project, should be submitted first. The companies behind the Aroostook Renewable Gateway project are LS Power of New York, which intends to build the 345 kilovolt transmission line, and Longroad Energy’s King Pine Wind of Massachusetts, which is responsible for the 170 wind turbine array that would be able to generate 1,000 kilowatts of energy to run through the transmission line. Both companies still must get various local, state and municipal permits. The project is being billed as the largest of its kind on the east coast. Longroad is owned by two New Zealand companies.