Is Maine finally about to make wind power happen?

Maine utility regulators have taken a big step toward finally building large-scale wind power in the state's northern Aroostook County. On Tuesday, the state's Public Utilities Commission picked an 800-megawatt wind farm proposal from developer Clearway Energy, along with a 1.2-gigawatt transmission line from Avangrid, the parent company of Central Maine Power. The wind farm will only move forward if the transmission line gets built, since the region has long been too disconnected from the rest of New England's grid to make wind power there practical.

Maine has been trying to build wind in this area since 2008, but past plans in 2016 and 2023 fell apart over the cost and difficulty of new transmission. This time, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont agreed to share the cost of the line, so Maine customers will cover less than 11% of the total. Regulators say the projects could generate about $400 million in net benefits for Maine ratepayers, create over 2,500 construction jobs, and cut the amount of oil burned by New England power plants in winter by 10%.

Still, this is not a done deal. The projects still need financing, permitting, and construction, and past transmission lines in Maine have faced public opposition that caused years of delay and added hundreds of millions in cost. The Trump administration has also cut tax credits for wind and tried to freeze wind permitting nationally, though courts have blocked some of those moves. For now, this affects the regional power supply rather than any individual home upgrade.