Energy measure has state worried Transmission line control at issue

AUGUSTA – The energy legislation passed by the U.S. Senate has Gov. John Baldacci and other state officials worried that Maine could lose all control over the development of electric transmission lines and siting of the generating facilities that supply them.

“[The provision] was added by unanimous consent and it has a very good sounding title,” said Maine Public Utilities Commission Chairman Kurt Adams. “But what it does could be devastating to Maine.”

The amendment, written by Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, was adopted under unanimous consent in the Senate, so there was no recorded vote.

It expands the authority of the Department of Energy to designate National Interest Electricity Transmission Corridors where federal regulators pre-empt the state’s ability to regulate generation facilities and transmission lines.

“A designation could lead to a state being required to host transmission lines even if the development and siting of the line violates state environmental laws or is harmful to that state’s consumers,” Baldacci said in a letter to the Congressional delegation last week. “The Thune amendment would damage Maine’s ability to determine its energy destiny.”

Adams said if the amendment survives to become law, the state could lose any say in the siting of any type of new power-generating plant in the state and the transmission lines to carry that power to other states.

“It had no public hearing; it had no public process whatsoever,” he said, “It was slipped in at the last minute.”

Adams said Maine consumers could be forced to help pay for power transmission lines to provide electricity to markets in other states.

He said the state already has high power rates compared to the rest of the nation, and higher rates to build transmission lines that do not benefit Maine consumers make the state less competitive.

“This could also override the state’s ability to regulate developments even on state-owned land,” said Public Advocate Richard Davies. “There has been an ongoing battle between the states and some in the federal government that want to pre-empt any ability of the states to set energy policy.”

Davies said a provision in the 2005 federal energy law already has made it difficult for states to control their own energy policies, and other states are concerned about trend too. He said the Thune proposal creates a type of super eminent domain power.

“There are sovereign rights of a state and this is another attempt to usurp those rights,” he said.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, who serves on the Senate Commerce Committee, said she was not aware of the Thune amendment. She said amendments often are added to legislation under unanimous consent.

“But I think this is something that can be addressed either in the House, or in conference, once the House has passed an energy bill,” she said. “I certainly will be looking into the impact this may have on Maine.”

So is 1st District Rep. Tom Allen, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He agreed with Davies that there has been a pattern of proposals to erode state authority. He called the Thune amendment “pathetic,” and said there would be efforts to block further erosion of state authority.

“FERC [the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] wound up in the last energy bill with unprecedented powers,” Allen said. “That’s one reason why I voted against that bill.”

He said Maine is already at risk of losing control over the transmission corridors connecting the state with the rest of New England.

Allen said if the Thune amendment becomes law, the state will not be able to prevent the feds from dictating the size of the transmission lines and who pays for the construction.

Gov. Baldacci is seeking allies among other governors across the country, and both Davies and Adams are contacting their counterpart officials in other states to mount an effort to defeat the measure in the House and again when the energy legislation goes to conference.