‘Different this time’: Wind farms and transmission lines poised to come to northern Maine

MAINE MONITOR • June 12, 2026

The Maine Public Utilities Commission has tried to encourage the development of large-scale renewable energy projects in Aroostook County for years. That saga may finally reach a resolution as the commission closes its latest round of bidding today and says it may begin making awards this month. Northern Maine is “a fantastic wind resource,” according to Eliza Donoghue, of the Maine Renewable Energy Association. That wind power could help Maine and other New England states meet rising electricity demand as well as their renewable energy goals as climate change prompts policymakers and the energy system to find ways to shift away from fossil fuels.But Aroostook County lacks transmission lines going south to export that energy, and the state and developers have been “trying to unlock that puzzle of how to make that happen for a long time,” Donoghue said. Northern Maine has its own electric grid, linked to New Brunswick, Canada, rather than to New England.