An Act To Require Legislative Approval of Certain Transmission Lines, Require Legislative Approval of Certain Transmission Lines and Facilities and Other Projects on Public Reserved Lands and Prohibit the Construction of Certain Transmission Lines in the Upper Kennebec Region Transmitted to the Clerk of the 130th Maine Legislature by the Secretary of State on March 11, 2021 and ordered printed.
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1295
Amends: 12 MRSA §1852, 35-A MRSA §3131, 35-A MRSA §3132

Legislative Document
No. 1295
I.B. 1
House of Representatives, March 30, 2021
An Act To Require Legislative Approval of Certain Transmission 
Lines, Require Legislative Approval of Certain Transmission Lines 
and Facilities and Other Projects on Public Reserved Lands and 
Prohibit the Construction of Certain Transmission Lines in the 
Upper Kennebec Region
Transmitted to the Clerk of the 130th Maine Legislature by the Secretary of State on March 
11, 2021 and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §1852, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 678, §13 and amended 
by PL 2013, c. 405, Pt. A, §24, is further amended to read:
4.  Lease of public reserved land for utilities and rights-of-way.  The bureau may 
lease the right, for a term not exceeding 25 years, to:
A.  Set and maintain or use poles, electric power transmission and telecommunication 
transmission lines and facilities, roads, bridges and landing strips;
B.  Lay and maintain or use pipelines and railroad tracks; and
C.  Establish and maintain or use other rights-of-way.
Any such poles, transmission lines and facilities, landing strips, pipelines and railroad 
tracks under this subsection are deemed to substantially alter the uses of the land within the 
meaning of the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 23, and a lease or conveyance 
for the purpose of constructing and operating such poles, transmission lines and facilities, 
landing strips, pipelines and railroad tracks under this subsection may not be granted 
without first obtaining the vote of 2/3 of all the members elected to each House of the 
Legislature.
Notwithstanding Title 1, section 302 or any other provision of law to the contrary, this 
subsection applies retroactively to September 16, 2014.
Sec. 2.  35-A MRSA §3131, sub-§4-A, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 655, Pt. A, §3, is 
amended to read:
4-A.  High-impact electric transmission line.  "High-impact electric transmission 
line" means a transmission line greater than 50 miles in length that is not located in a 
statutory corridor, as defined in section 122, subsection 1, paragraph F-4, or a petitioned 
corridor, as defined in section 122, subsection 1, paragraph D-1, and that is:
A.  Constructed to transmit direct current electricity; or
B.  Capable of operating at 345 kilovolts or more and:
(1)  Is not a generator interconnection transmission facility as defined in section 
3132, subsection 1-B; and
(2)  Is not constructed primarily to provide electric reliability, as determined by the 
commission.
Sec. 3.  35-A MRSA §3132, sub-§6-A, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 655, Pt. A, §5, is 
amended to read:
6-A.  High-impact electric transmission line; certificate of public convenience and 
necessity.  The commission shall evaluate and render a decision on any petition for a 
certificate of public convenience and necessity for a high-impact transmission line in 
accordance with section 122, subsection 1-D.
Sec. 4.  35-A MRSA §3132, sub-§6-C is enacted to read:
6-C.  High-impact electric transmission line; legislative approval.  In addition to 
obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity, a high-impact electric 
transmission line may not be constructed anywhere in the State without first obtaining the 
approval of the Legislature, except that any high-impact electric transmission line crossing 
or utilizing public lands designated by the Legislature pursuant to Title 12, section 598-A 
is deemed to substantially alter the land and must be approved by the vote of 2/3 of all the 
members elected to each House of the Legislature.
Sec. 5.  35-A MRSA §3132, sub-§6-D is enacted to read:
6-D.  High-impact electric transmission line; geographic prohibition.  
Notwithstanding subsection 6-C, a high-impact electric transmission line may not be 
constructed in the Upper Kennebec Region.  For the purpose of this subsection, "Upper 
Kennebec Region" means the approximately 43,300 acres of land located between the 
Town of Bingham and Wyman Lake, north along the Old Canada Road, Route 201, to the 
Canadian border, and eastward from the Town of Jackman to encompass Long Pond and 
westward to the Canadian border, in Somerset County and Franklin County.
Sec. 6.  35-A MRSA §3132, sub-§6-E is enacted to read:
6-E.  Retroactivity.  Notwithstanding Title 1, section 302 or any other provision of 
law to the contrary, subsections 6-C and 6-D apply retroactively to September 16, 2020 and 
apply to any high-impact electric transmission line the construction of which had not 
commenced as of that date.
SUMMARY
This initiated bill requires the approval of the Legislature for the construction of high-
impact electric transmission lines and provides that high-impact electric transmission lines 
crossing or utilizing public lands must be approved by 2/3 of all the members elected to 
each House of the Legislature.  This initiated bill also prohibits the construction of high-
impact electric transmission lines in the Upper Kennebec Region.  These provisions apply 
retroactively to September 16, 2020, the date of filing of this initiative.
This initiated bill also requires the approval of 2/3 of all the members elected to each 
House of the Legislature for any use of public lands for transmission lines and facilities 
and certain other projects.  This provision applies retroactively to September 16, 2014.