Central Maine Power Co. wants to make Gov. Paul LePage’s hydropower dream come true.
The utility and Hydro Quebec jointly filed a proposal Thursday with regulators to build 145 miles of new transmission lines that would bring a massive amount of hydropower across Maine’s western border with Canada onto New England’s regional grid.
The proposed 145-mile transmission line would run from Beattie Township through The Forks and down to a new converter station in Lewiston, where the direct-current power from Canada would get switched to alternating-current power before coming on to the existing grid.
The utility gave reporters an advance look at the project that will compete against many others vying for money from Massachusetts to help meet that state’s renewable energy purchasing goals.
The competitors include transmission lines connecting to Quebec through Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as New Brunswick-based Emera’s Atlantic Link proposal for an underwater line connecting New Brunswick to Boston.
Emera subsidiary Emera Maine did not submit any proposals into the process, but the parent company wants to serve up wind and hydropower from Canada’s maritime provinces into the New England grid, according to spokesman Gerald Weseen.
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