SEARSPORT, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday the preferred site for a port facility that could support Maine's first offshore wind energy project.
The proposal for the port facility at Sears Island was revealed during a news conference at the State House and comes after several years of feedback from citizens and stakeholders, scientific and economic surveys, and other means to help inform leaders in the decision.
The purpose of the port would be to provide a facility for "floating offshore wind fabrication, assembly, maintenance, and deployment," a release Tuesday from the governor's office stated.
“This was not an easy decision, nor is it one that I made lightly," Mills said in the release. "For more than two years, my Administration has evaluated Sears Island and Mack Point thoroughly and with an open mind, recognizing that each site has its own set of benefits and its own set of drawbacks. In carefully considering all of these, I believe that, on balance, Sears Island is the best choice for an offshore wind port because it is already owned by the state, designated for the purpose of port development, will cost less in the short-term and long-term, and is expected to result in less environmental harm."
Multiple agencies were involved in the process leading up to the recommended site, including the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Port Authority.
Several locations were being considered for the port facility, including off the coast of Searsport, Eastport, and Portland.
Searsport had two locations of interest: Mack Point and Sears Island.
By choosing the state-owned land, Mills said it was the best economic option.
Only about 100 acres of the nearly 950-acre state-owned island off the coast of Searsport would be used in the project, according to a release from the governor's office.
Mills said the island was divided into two parcels in 2009, with about two-thirds placed in a permanent conservation easement held by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust and the remaining one-third reserved for potential future development by MDOT.
Sen. Chip Curry, D-Searsport, spoke at Tuesday's announcement and supported the move.
"The development of an offshore wind port in Searsport, Maine will strengthen the people, families, and communities up and down the midcoast," Curry said.
Curry's counterpart in the Legislature, Republican Rep. Reagan Paul, spoke to reporters at a regular GOP press conference minutes before Mills' announcement. NEWS CENTER Maine asked for her thoughts on Searsport's potential selection. Paul said she strongly opposed building the port in her town.
"It is especially egregious to ruin the last uninhabited unindustrialized island on the East coast when there are other options," Paul said. "This is a disappointing decision but not unexpected given the power that special interest groups and labor unions wield in this state."
Earlier, she said she was "energy agnostic," meaning open to multiple potential new energy sources, and spoke out about potential economic and climate benefits of reintroducing nuclear energy to Maine.
"States across the country are looking at nuclear power," Paul said, referencing Illinois lawmakers' recent steps toward nuclear development.
Searsport Town Manager James Gillway spoke at the announcement, saying he understands residents who are unsure of or opposed to the move. But he said the potential economic boost is needed in the region.
"I think it’s extremely important to add that, our region of the state has been through some tough economic times over the past 10 years," Gillway said, before detailing how the mill in nearby Bucksport had shuttered.
Many conservationists shared their reluctance for an offshore wind port at Sears Island with NEWS CENTER Maine in a report published in September 2023.
State officials with the advisory groups were also accused of "favoring" Sears Island without fully considering other locations, according to a report from The Maine Monitor published in August 2023.
"State officials want to move quickly in building a port to construct and maintain the massive floating turbines in order to compete against other New England states in the emerging offshore wind market," the nonprofit news organization reported at the time. "Mack Point and Sears Island emerged early as the top contenders in the process, in part for their potential access to deep water, rail and central location."
The port has been met with mixed reviews, and many have shared concerns about possible risk for the endangered North Atlantic right whale, though studies indicate offshore wind farms and their construction do not elevate their risk of harm. Two female whales have been found dead off the East Coast since the beginning of the year, which was a major blow to the already dwindling population.
Two federal agencies announced plans in January to better protect the endangered whales as offshore wind projects develop. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said they plan to use technology, such as artificial intelligence and "passive acoustic monitoring" to locate the whales and "monitor the impacts of wind development on the animals," according to a report published last month by the Associated Press.
Both agencies cite climate change as the biggest threat to their future, though ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements have been other major points of concern, leading to changes in policy and practice among commercial fishing.
Many environmental energy advocates applaud the future of wind energy as a promising alternative to fossil fuels.
In a recent report, NEWS CENTER Maine spoke with Jack Shapiro, the climate and clean energy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Shapiro said offshore wind will create plenty of energy for the future.
“Offshore wind, because the wind is so much stronger and more consistent offshore, is going to generate a ton of the energy that we need," he explained. "Almost half of the electricity needs we’re going to have by 2040."
At Tuesday's announcement, Maine State Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Patrick Woodcock said this type of action was needed, in order for Maine to stay ahead of myriad competition.
"Every state across the eastern seaboard is racing to develop this type of port infrastructure, and it is a very unique attribute of what Sears Island presents," Woodcock said.
Mills has been working on the advancement of wind energy technology for most of her tenure as Maine governor.
In 2021, she announced the state would actively explore and survey options for potential wind development projects, including a "robust public process" that would engage with "key stakeholders and community organizations" under the direction of MDOT.
In 2022, MDOT announced an Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group consisting of 19 members designed to "advise the state on port development," and it included multiple tours of potential locations to help "inform its findings."
Then in 2023, a port was seen as the key priority for "unlocking Maine's opportunity in offshore wind," according a report released by the governor's energy office called the Maine Offshore Wind Roadmap, which provided a detailed plan for next steps in the development of wind energy projects.