Rhode Island Energy has conditionally selected 150 megawatts of power from a proposed wind project in Aroostook County, Maine, the utility announced Tuesday, joining a regional procurement that would produce the largest onshore wind farm in New England.
The award comes under Rhode Island’s Affordable Clean Energy Security Act and follows a solicitation run by the Maine Public Utilities Commission seeking up to 1,200 megawatts of generation along with transmission to move it, according to the company.
That commission selected Clearway Energy Group on Aug. 25 to build 800 megawatts of wind turbines and chose Avangrid, the parent company of Central Maine Power, to build a high-voltage line connecting them to the New England grid, Maine Public reported.
Greg Cornett, president of Rhode Island Energy, said the project offers a chance to secure a large amount of renewable power through a competitive regional process while supporting the state’s 2021 Act on Climate requirements.
Clearway plans to site the turbines on commercial timberland in rural, unincorporated southeastern Aroostook County, chosen for its existing roads, proximity to a transmission right of way and wind speeds, Nick Benjamin, the company’s northeastern development director, told Maine Public. Avangrid is expected to build a 111-mile line from Haynesville to Pittsfield, largely along existing corridors, and the project is projected to create 2,500 construction jobs, the Kennebec Journal reported.
The Maine commission plans to buy 600 megawatts for its own customers, with the remainder going to other New England states, according to Maine Public. Rhode Island’s 150 megawatts accounts for most of what is left.
Nothing is final. Rhode Island Energy now enters negotiations with Clearway on a long-term power purchase agreement, which would then need approval from the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, the company said.
Permitting and development will take years, and building the generation depends on the transmission line getting built first, according to the Maine commission. The Maine Legislature directed regulators to pursue wind and transmission in northern Maine in 2021, and an earlier attempt collapsed in late 2023 when negotiations over the power line failed.
