RUMFORD — The Maine Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday on Central Maine Power’s proposal to build a 115-kilovolt transmission line.

It is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. at Mountain Valley High School.

The commission is conducting a proceeding to decide whether to authorize CMP to build this new transmission line.

In July, CMP filed a petition requesting a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to build the new transmission line and substation in Western Maine to interconnect the Record Hill Wind LLC wind farm atop Roxbury ridges into CMP’s transmission grid.

The new line will go through the towns of Roxbury, Mexico and Rumford.

Due to New England-regionwide transmission policy, Record Hill must reimburse virtually all of CMP’s costs to build the new line.

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According to a Dec. 18 letter from CMP to PUC Administrative Director Karen Geraghty, CMP wants to upgrade its lines to the larger 115-kilovolt conductor size due to the potential for higher flows in the near future from other projects in the area.

Additionally, CMP has a conceptual proposal for a future 115-kilovolt loop between Rumford and the Bigelow area of Carrabassett Valley.

Participants may present sworn or unsworn testimony. However, only sworn testimony will become evidence in the proceeding.

The PUC has jurisdiction over the siting of transmission lines; it does not have jurisdiction over the siting of electricity generation, including wind projects.

The hearing will be audiotaped. A full transcription will be available from the commission Web site within two weeks of the hearing.

For more information, visit www.maine.gov/mpuc/, enter the Virtual Case File and look up docket No. 2009-216 for publicly available documents on this case.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com


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