CMP Set to Begin Work on $1.4 Billion Upgrade to Grid

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

Central Maine Power Company has received the final federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin work on a $1.4 billion upgrade of its power transmission system.

CMP plans to construct five new substations in central and southern Maine, linked by 450 miles of new or rebuilt transmission lines. Work will begin in August in southern Maine. A portion of the transmission lines will be upgraded in the Searsport, Stockton Springs, Prospect area this fall, but the midcoast is not the site of major construction.

When finished, the CMP grid will meet federal regulations for reliability, according to CMP spokesman John Carroll, and provide a service upgrade throughout New England and Eastern Canada.

CMP expects the project to take five years and employ an average of 2,000 people and generate $60 million in wages.

The project includes the construction of five new 345-kilovolt substations that will almost double the capacity to transmit power. The southern end of the line will tie into the New England grid near the New Hampshire border, and the northern end connects lines from Canada in the central Maine town of Orrington.

The company introduced the plan after a study of the region's electricity grid found reliability problems. The existing transmission grid was built over 40 years ago.

Since the upgrade will enhance service for all of New England, CMP rate payers will bear eight percent of the cost of the upgrade; ratepayers across New England will shoulder the rest.

Carroll said the upgraded grid will provide proper transmission for some renewable power, including onshore wind power, solar and tidal, but is not designed to accommodate the 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts estimated to be produced by offshore wind power in the next 20 years.

Source: Free Press Online