Residents voted 78-11 to oppose the project at a special town meeting on Wednesday.
By Meg Robbins, Staff Writer
Central Maine newspapers news story
JACKMAN — The town of Jackman has joined a number of towns and organizations throughout the state in opposing Central Maine Power Co.’s proposed transmission line that would bring hydropower from Quebec to Massachusetts via western Maine. Residents voted 78-11 against the project in a special town meeting held at the Forest Hills Consolidated School gymnasium Wednesday night.
The move comes roughly a month before the state’s Public Utilities Commission votes on whether or not to issue a permit for the project. The transmission line, called New England Clean Energy Connect, would provide 1,200 megawatts to power roughly 1 million homes in Massachusetts. While its $950 million budget would be funded by Massachusetts electric customers, the 145-mile-long infrastructure would run through 38 communities in Somerset, Franklin and Androscoggin counties. CMP owns the land where the new line would be installed.
Voters in Jackman said they felt the project would “damage Maine’s environment, wildlife habitat, water quality, scenic views, and tourism economy; and permanently harm their way of life,” according to a press release from the Natural Resources Council of Maine, a conservation group that has taken a prominent stance against the project.
