MAINE PUBLIC • March 10, 2020
The Maine Ethics Commission voted 2-1 Tuesday to investigate whether a group opposing a controversial transmission line through western Maine qualifies as a political action committee and should be required to reveal its donors. The group, Stop the Corridor, is a limited liability company that has been actively opposing the transmission project since August of 2018 and has sought to influence public opinion in the towns that the project will pass through, as well as the permitting process for the 145-mile, $1 billion transmission line. It has also made in-kind donations to a grassroots organization that is trying to scuttle the project via a ballot referendum this November. Stop the Corridor has repeatedly declined to disclose its donors. The PAC operated by Central Maine Power has said repeatedly that anti-corridor groups have been assisted by fossil-fuel generators.