MAINE PUBLIC • January 20, 2026
Maine lawmakers are debating a new state agency that would use low-interest government borrowing to help pay for electric grid upgrades. State Senator Mark Lawrence, D-Eliot, told a panel of lawmakers that the state needs new transmission lines to connect potential new power generation to the New England electric grid. Electric customers shoulder the costs of expensive transmission projects, and a Maine Transmission Authority could use low-interest state bonds to reduce the price of development, Lawrence told a panel of lawmakers. Maine has been an electricity consumer for the last century, Lawrence said. But new transmission to areas with the potential to make new power from resources including solar and wind could make the state into a electric generator for the region, he added.