PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 20, 2024
Solar energy provided all the electricity needed to power a service area of more than 11,000 customers in northern Maine for a few hours in early May, marking a first in the large, sparsely populated region that relies on a Canadian grid for its electricity. Unlike other regions in the state that are linked to the New England electricity grid, the Fort Kent area in northernmost Maine is connected to New Brunswick Power Corp. Versant Power, the region’s transmission and distribution utility, said that since 2020, it has worked with developers to connect more than 140 megawatts of solar energy to the grid.