PORTLAND, Maine — An energy company that wants to derail a proposed 145-mile transmission line across Maine says the Public Utility Commission's approval is "replete with errors."
NextEra Energy Resource's appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court accuses the panel of disregarding state law requiring a third-party review of alternatives to Central Maine Power's transmission line that would bring Canadian hydropower to the New England power grid.
The PUC concluded a third-party analysis was unnecessary because there was no feasible substitute to the $1 billion, 1,200-megawatt project.
The appeal is playing out as Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Land Use Planning Commission prepare to issue their own decisions on the project. Opponents are weighing an effort to put the $1 billion project to a statewide vote.
