LEWISTON – In a four-and-a-half-hour public workshop with Central Maine Power Co. officials, city councilors Tuesday demanded to know why the electric company needs a $1.5 billion upgrade to its system.

Why does CMP find it necessary to install high-capacity power lines through the area?

Why can’t the company come up with a different way to keep Maine’s lights on, since so many people are opposed to the proposal?

“I know it’s CMP’s right of way, CMP’s property, but was there a consideration of people?” Councilor Larry Poulin asked.

CMP officials said they considered all of the options and the company needs this project – as proposed.

“We’re in jeopardy of widespread blackouts if we don’t do something to reinforce the system here in Maine,” CMP project manager Mary Smith said.

Called the Maine Power Reliability Program, CMP’s proposal calls for upgrading a nearly 40-year-old swath of power lines. The lines start south in Eliot and pass through central Maine in Litchfield, Monmouth, Leeds, Greene, Lewiston and a corner of Auburn at the Durham line. They stop in Orrington, where they connect to lines from Canada.

In some places, lines would be rebuilt or replaced. In other places, lines would be added, including 115,000-volt and 345,000-volt lines. The 345-kilovolt poles, not common in Maine, are wider than traditional power-line towers, and are, depending on location, about 20 to 25 feet taller than the lower-voltage poles.

The project would affect about 4,000 property abutters statewide. If approved, it could take three to five years to complete.

CMP said it needs the lines to upgrade Maine’s power system, deal with the state’s growing electrical needs and head off reliability problems.

Opponents say the 345-kilovolt lines buzz and emit an electromagnetic field they fear could cause cancer. Abutters say the new lines will lower their property values.

After a presentation by CMP, Lewiston city councilors spent close to two hours questioning the 11 power company officials who attended the workshop, including the project engineer, an environmental consultant and the project manager. The questions were often pointed, with councilors demanding to know why the high-capacity poles couldn’t be placed farther from homes, whether there was a correlation between high-energy readings and cancer and whether the power company had considered how such a massive project would affect residents, particularly those who would live in the shadow of the high-capacity lines.

Several times, CMP officials said they had considered residents before proposing the project. They pointed out that they’re planning to use existing rights of way, minimizing the impact on landowners. Although all New England states would share the cost of the system upgrade – with Maine chipping in 8 percent – they warned that Mainers could bear the cost of local changes to the proposal, such as moving the poles away from homes.

That angered some at the meeting.

“If something costs a little bit more, but it’s the right thing to do, then CMP should do it and not threaten that it’ll cost more,” Councilor Nelson Peters said.

The audience applauded.

Nearly three hours after the meeting began, the council opened the floor to the public. About half of the two dozen audience members asked questions

Some wanted to know about the new substation proposed for Larrabee Road. Some questioned the need for such a large-scale upgrade. Others asked the power company to consider – and reconsider – the impact on residents before moving forward.

But some people left before the opportunity to ask questions. The hour was too late, they said. And they weren’t pleased with the answers they’d already heard from CMP.

“I don’t think they answer you directly,” Lewiston resident Lou Beaulieu said.

Although the City Council convened Tuesday’s meeting, it is the Maine Public Utilities Commission that will determine whether CMP can move forward with its proposal. The commission is studying the proposal and is expected to take months to come to a decision.