As a director on The Old Canada Road National Scenic Byway, I oppose the transmission corridor that Central Maine Power would build across one of the largest undeveloped forests east of the Mississippi. It uses 1930s technology because it is the cheapest way to build it. The CMP project is a pure for-profit scheme that will land CMP $60 million a year.

This project will supply Massachusetts with power at Mainers’ expense. It is questionable whether or not that it will reduce greenhouse gases or even lower your power bill. The 53 miles of clearcut corridor is almost as wide as the New Jersey turnpike and stands as real danger of forest fire and wind storm damage. There is little or no personnel in this wild area that could even attempt to control a forest fire. New technology exists that would be totally safe during windstorms and forest fires and would accomplish the same results.

The NECPL underground project in Vermont is fully permitted. Unlike the CMP proposal, the innovative buried design is the next generation of transmission solutions. This project would cost Massachusetts more but save Maine’s forests.

CMP rated fourth from the bottom in the 2018 J. D. Power ratings for customer satisfaction. How can we trust them to safely build an already outdated, 53-mile transmission line through Maine’s western wilderness. Maine is nothing more than a cheap date for them.

Please say no to the Central Maine Power project. This is a bad deal for Maine, and Mainers deserve better.

Edwin Buzzell

Pittsfield

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