An Act To Amend the Requirements for Electric Transmission Lines
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0802
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: BARTLETT
Amends: 35-A MRSA §3132

Legislative Document 
No. 802 
S.P. 246 
In Senate, March 1, 2011 
An Act To Amend the Requirements for Electric Transmission 
Lines 
Reference to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology suggested and ordered 
printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator BARTLETT of Cumberland. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA §3132, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2009, c. 615, Pt. A, §1 
and c. 655, Pt. A, §4, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
6.  Commission order; certificate of public convenience and necessity.  In its 
order, the commission shall make specific findings with regard to the public need for the 
proposed transmission line.  Except as provided in subsection 6-A for a high-impact 
electric transmission line, if the commission finds that a public need exists, it shall issue a 
certificate of public convenience and necessity for the transmission line.  In determining 
public need, the commission shall, at a minimum, take into account economics, 
reliability, public health and safety, scenic, historic and recreational values, state 
renewable energy generation goals, the proximity of the proposed transmission line to 
inhabited dwellings and alternatives to construction of the transmission line, including 
energy conservation, distributed generation or load management. If the commission 
orders or allows the erection of the transmission line, the order is subject to all other 
provisions of law and the right of any other agency to approve the transmission line.  The 
commission shall, as necessary and in accordance with subsections 7 and 8, consider the 
findings of the Department of Environmental Protection under Title 38, chapter 3, 
subchapter 1, article 6, with respect to the proposed transmission line and any 
modifications ordered by the Department of Environmental Protection to lessen the 
impact of the proposed transmission line on the environment. A person may submit a 
petition for and obtain approval of a proposed transmission line under this section before 
applying for approval under municipal ordinances adopted pursuant to Title 30-A, Part 2, 
Subpart 6-A; and Title 38, section 438-A and, except as provided in subsection 4, before 
identifying a specific route or route options for the proposed transmission line.  Except as 
provided in subsection 4, the commission may not consider the petition insufficient for 
failure to provide identification of a route or route options for the proposed transmission 
line.  The issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity establishes that, as 
of the date of issuance of the certificate, the decision by the person to erect or construct 
was prudent.  At the time of its issuance of a certificate of public convenience and 
necessity, the commission shall send to each municipality through which a proposed 
corridor or corridors for a transmission line extends a separate notice that the issuance of 
the certificate does not override, supersede or otherwise affect municipal authority to 
regulate the siting of the proposed transmission line. The commission may deny a 
certificate of public convenience and necessity for a transmission line upon a finding that 
the transmission line is reasonably likely to adversely affect any transmission and 
distribution utility or its customers. 
The commission may not issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a 
transmission line pursuant to this subsection unless it finds that the construction and 
operation of the proposed transmission line either reduces costs for consumers or is 
necessary to meet the reliability requirements imposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission or its designated electric reliability organization. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the statute governing the issuance of certificates of public 
convenience and necessity for transmission lines.  This bill provides that the Public 
Utilities Commission may not approve a certificate of public convenience and necessity 
for a transmission line unless it finds that the construction and operation of the proposed 
transmission line either reduces costs for consumers or is necessary to meet the reliability 
requirements imposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or its designated 
electric reliability organization. 
The bill also corrects a conflict that was created by Public Law 2009, chapter 615 and 
chapter 655 by incorporating the changes made by both chaptered laws.