PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 9, 2021
The Central Maine Power corridor has been rejected by Maine voters, its permit is suspended and it faces potentially fatal legal challenges, so now is a critical time to learn the right lessons from what went wrong. First, developers should not mistake the public’s concern about climate change as permission to bring forward poorly planned projects. Second, CMP was so focused on picking a route to maximize profits that it ignored how Maine people would react. Third, the public must be involved; CMP presented the route as a fait accompli and then tried to sell it. Fourth, CMP and Hydro-Quebec, never came close to providing Mainers with a good deal. Fifth, climate benefits must be real and verified. Finally, as New England moves toward a decarbonized grid, there will be no substitute for strategic, long-term transmission and distribution planning. The CMP corridor was anointed without regional input or a balancing of costs, benefits, alternatives and permitting risks. Maine can move forward, embracing well-developed clean-energy projects, if we learn the right lessons. ~ Joel Clement, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Pete Didisheim, Natural Resources Council of Maine