BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 30, 2025
A new push to boost electricity capacity across New England could help to get a stalled transmission line project to northern Maine — and related wind energy development in the region — back on track. The effort by ISO New England will likely support the upgrade of a key substation in Pittsfield and other changes to move power farther south into New England. That could make it easier to tap the mostly undeveloped wind energy potential of northern Maine. Clean energy advocates hope the efforts could give a much-needed boost to Maine’s own plans to create more wind energy in Aroostook County and send it southward. State regulators are again seeking developers who could pull off a wind and transmission project with the new regional support. However, it’s an open question whether the northern Maine transmission project will be able to overcome some of the early roadblocks — including local resistance along the proposed corridor — that have already stalled the project for several years.