Central Maine Power Co. has restarted construction on its New England Clean Energy Connect corridor connecting Quebec hydropower to the regional power grid after several years of legal entanglement.
Among the company’s plans is a new transmission line from Windsor and Whitefield, where construction has already begun, through Alna to Wiscasset. Representatives visited the Alna Select Board at a special meeting Thursday, Feb. 29 to ask for authorization to use heavy equipment on two town roads under seasonal weight restrictions to access the corridor for construction, with an agreement to repair damage that results.
Project manager Adam Marquis said work resumed in January on the transmission line, which is expected to run 5.3 miles in Alna along 48 new poles about 90 feet tall on average.
The project stalled in 2021 after Maine residents voted down the hydroelectric corridor by referendum. CMP and its parent company won a lawsuit challenging the referendum’s legality last April.
Alna’s planning board approved permits for the work in 2021 and extended them for another two years in August 2023.
A draft agreement used in Windsor and Whitefield was provided at the Feb. 29 meeting for Alna to consider.
Alna Select Board Chair Ed Pentaleri said he had contacted town officials in Whitefield for their input on the experience and heard things were “so far so good,” with a very responsive presence from CMP.
Pentaleri also noted the company would not need to come to the town or offer road repairs if the work was to be done over the summer, rather than during posted road season, which runs to June.
Work trucks will enter town through Route 218 and turn onto Rabbit Path road about 2,500 feet down and access Lothrop Road through West Alna Road, according to representatives. Both of those access roads are owned by the state and not subject to a repair agreement with Alna.
Equipment includes excavators, concrete trucks, a 90-ton drill rig, cranes, trailers, and rebar cages, according to the draft agreement. The existing weight limit posting is 23,000 pounds.
Repair work would be warranted for one year, representatives said.
CMP public relations representative Troy Thibodeau emphasized throughout the meeting that CMP aims to provide responsiveness and collaboration to residents. He said the company is trying to “turn over a new leaf” in public relations after contentious meetings and legal challenges across the state in recent years.
Thibodeau has taken video and written documentation of existing road conditions on those routes. After discussion, he offered a ride along with Alna Road Commissioner Jeff Verney and any other interested parties to agree on the condition.
Repairs will need to be approved by the road commissioner and completed to town specifications, working with a preferred vendor if they have one, according to Thibodeau.
“I don’t think anyone’s looking for a dispute,” he said. “Quite honestly, there are a lot of witnesses.”
Resident comments noted the narrowness of Rabbit Path road and the knolls on Lothrop Road. Concerns were expressed that both roads are likely to be destroyed by the heavy equipment.
Marquis said “Band-Aid” fixes may be made to issues during construction until the work is done, when representatives will meet with the road commissioner to find an agreeable fix.
Lothrop Road residents said a CMP truck has bottomed out on a hill there once before, blocking their driveways for several hours. Thibodeau said most of the work should take place while people are at work, and engineers will look for options to minimize disruption to the road.
The contractors would also work with local snowmobile clubs to replace bridges disturbed in the process. A large turnaround will be made in the corridor land, which CMP owns, for trucks, according to Thibodeau.
Construction length depends upon the weather but will likely run about eight months, Thibodeau said.
“You folks are going to be impacted for a while,” he said. “I don’t have a great answer. I don’t think anybody does.”
CMP hopes to have the line in service early next year, according to Marquis.
In response to resident comment about construction noise, Thibodeau said work will be spread out on different days and eventually move into a stretch of the corridor further from houses.
“I wouldn’t say it’s an obnoxiously noisy thing,” he said. “We’re trying to handle it as best we can, but it is construction.”
Abutters to the project will be notified and receive his contact information for issues to be resolved as soon as possible, he said.
Thibodeau will also plan another public meeting for June at board member Coreysha Stone’s request.
“I heard a lot of good things tonight, but they weren’t in the agreement,” board member Steven Graham said near the end of the meeting, asking how the town would enforce the terms while avoiding litigation.
“We need to work together, I guess, is the shortest answer,” Thibodeau said.
The select board expects to consider a draft agreement next week.
The Alna Select Board’s next regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 7 in the town office and by Zoom. For more information, go to alna.maine.gov.
