Keep Maine Beautiful: Our Stories
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Urgent: New Bill Threatens Rural Maine Communities
LD 596 Resolve, to Provide Legislative Approval of Northern Maine Transmission Infrastructure A new bill has been proposed that would grant blanket approval for the Northern Maine Transmission Infrastructure Project – a high-voltage transmission line that would cut through rural communities and include new or expanded substations. While this may sound like a typical infrastructure…
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PRM Testimony Opposing LD186 – An Act to Clarify the Public Utilities Commission’s Authority to Establish Time-of-use Pricing for Standard-offer Service
Testimony as provided to the Energy, Utilities, Technology Committee Senator Lawrence, Representative Sachs and Honorable Members of the Committee, I am writing to oppose the bill that would grant the Public Utilities Commission the authority to implement Time-of-Use (TOU) rates for energy consumption. While the proponents of this bill argue that TOU rates will lower…
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DOT Denies Maine’s $456 Million Dollar Grant Request to Develop Sears Island
A recent federal grant proposal aimed at developing Sears Island has been rejected. The grant was intended to fund the building of an offshore wind port on the island, one of the largest uninhabited islands off the US east coast that is connected by a causeway. While this news doesn’t mean that Sears Island is…
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Aroostook Renewable Gateway Receives Up To $425 Million in Federal Funding
News that the Biden-Harris administration will fund the Aroostook Renewable Gateway came suddenly, and we are still in the process of sorting through details. Broadly speaking, PRM supports high-voltage transmission options that minimize community and environmental harms, which is why we advocate for national best practices like burying HVDC lines along existing corridors. Without a statewide feasibility study (which…
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Protect Sears Island!
Governor Mills and MDOT are facing a big decision: Whether to site a proposed 100-acre wind port on Mack Point, which is already industrialized, or Sears Island, one of the largest uninhabited islands on the East Coast. Unfortunately, they’re moving ahead with plans to develop the Island, an ecological gem that attracts thousands of visitors…
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Petition for Intervenor Status
One of the reasons Preserve Rural Maine was set up as a membership based non-profit is the organization can work to present the interests of its members through a unified voice. Intervenor status is a method for a person or organization to petition to have a voice at the negotiating table in a public process.…
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Current Focus: Northern Maine Renewable Energy RFI
The second Northern Maine Renewable Energy RFI was released in May, 2024. It is tracked at docket 2024-00099. Preserve Rural Maine will respond to this RFI and we will post our response here. Prior to the first attempted procurement, the PUC posted an RFI that was public: 2021-00223. Unlike in 2021, the PUC has decided…
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