Livermore Falls voters to consider proposed NECEC transmission line

LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectmen will hold a special town meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, at the Town Office for voters to consider Central Maine Power Co.’s proposed 145-mile transmission line.

Residents will also consider whether to transfer $1,200 from undesignated funds to cover a shortfall in the town’s contractual services budget.

Opponents of the proposed New England Clean Energy Connect project asked selectmen Aug. 6 to hold a special town meeting on the nearly $1 billion proposal to bring hydropower from Quebec to Lewiston for connection to the New England power grid.

Voters are being asked if they want to oppose the proposed corridor and, if that question passes, to see if voters would authorize selectmen to send a letter of opposition to CMP, New England Clean Energy Connect, the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Land Use Planning Commission.

The proposed transmission line would be a high-voltage, direct current transmission line from Beattie Township on the Canada border to an existing interchange in Lewiston. That includes roughly 90 miles alongside lines already in an existing corridor between Lewiston and Caratunk, and cutting 53 miles of new corridor from Caratunk north and west to the Quebec province.

If the project were approved, there would be 7.8 miles of transmission line running through Livermore Falls, according to CMP.

In other matters, Town Manager Stephen Gould said the contractual services budget was was overspent by $1,200 for the 2018-19 budget due to a miscalculation. Voters will be asked to transfer the money from undesignated funds to cover the shortfall.

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