PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 1, 2024
Maine’s offshore wind research project in the Gulf of Maine is the subject of negotiations that are picking up speed among state regulators, the project’s developers and the Public Advocate, who are trying to determine how much the zero-carbon energy will ultimately cost utility customers. The PUC on July 11 ordered that the price – or how it’s structured for the project in a contract between the developer, Pine Tree Offshore Wind, and CMP or Versant – should be “sufficiently defined and certain” to allow regulators to determine whether the cost to ratepayers is the lowest reasonable amount to finance, build and operate the project. The low-cost provision is required by state law, which mandated that the PUC execute a long-term offshore wind contract between a utility of no less than 20 years.