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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 25 O C T O B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 7 F O C U S T R A N S P O R TAT I O N / I N F R A S T R U C T U R E one with NextEra, which is the parent company of Florida Power and Light. Part of our strategy was based on the observation that if you look at a map of the transmission system in Maine, you'll notice that there are two major lines into New Brunswick, and we've had them there for a long time, but none into Quebec. About three years ago we started strategically to buy a right-of-way up to the Quebec border. We did it qui- etly, we did it with our engineers look- ing at what would be the most effi cient way to get there, we had our environ- mental team looking at what route would have the least impact. And we had our fi nancial team looking at price. We acquired about a 54-mile right-of- way from what we already owned and we did it with four landowners. We did it thinking that if you look long-term we would need a line into Quebec one day. So we are positioned now to do that. MB: Hydro-Quebec is also part of other proposals to Massachusetts' RFP, isn't it? SB: Hydro-Quebec is bidding with three partners in this RFP: ey're bidding through Maine with us, through New Hampshire with EverSource and through Vermont with TDI New England. MB: Are they mutually exclusive bids? SB: Yes. MB: So it will be one of you three, if Massachusetts sees Hydro-Quebec as the way to go. SB: Correct. Our Hydro-Quebec bid consists of two parts: We did one pure hydro bid of about 1,090 megawatts of power and we did a second bid that was 700 megawatts of hydro and 300 megawatts of wind. We did that because we want to off er Massachusetts choices. We did the same thing with NextEra. MB: Tell us about the NextEra bid. SB: e NextEra bid actually has three parts: e fi rst bid was for 450 megawatts of wind. e second bid adds to that 150 megawatts of solar and two battery stor- age projects: One will be at the solar farm and one will be at the wind farm, and each will be 25 megawatts. e third bid, and again this is a building block bid: e third bid is to take all of that and on top of that we've partnered with a Canadian wind developer that's literally parked right on the other side of the border, and that is another 450 megawatts of wind. And again, we did this in the spirit of saying to Massachusetts: ese are the two best partners that we could choose and we give you a group of ideas that you can choose from. MB: NextEra's wind projects are roughly located in western Maine? SB: Yes. MB: Can you share your thoughts on how CMP's bids might compare to the other proposals? SB: I can. In order to give you a perspec- tive of what we're competing against: ¡ ere are three Hydro-Quebec bids and we're one of them. ¡ ere are six other large bids, one of which is ours with NextEra. Some combine wind with hydro, or wind with solar. ¡ ere are two very small hydro bids. ¡ ere are 19 solar bids. ¡ ere are six single, smaller wind bids. ¡ And one off shore wind bid. at's the competition. e good news for ratepayers is: is is the future of trying to get them the best energy source at the lowest cost, and Massachusetts has received a robust response. Here's how we see our proposal in relation to the competition: 1. It's the shortest transmission route under control. We're not out acquiring anything to make our proposal happen. 2. I think one of the biggest messages in our favor is that we're using what ratepayers have already paid for. Up to this new 54-mile acquisition, we're in an existing right-of-way and we're going to use it. We're going to deliver into Larrabee Road, which is part of the Maine Power Reliability Project that New England ratepayers have already paid for. So we're using what's already been built and paid for. A constant supply of power is crucial for any business or industry. So you want the expertise of true generator specialists when choosing your source of automatic standby power. As Maine's exclusive, statewide distributor of Generac industrial generators, Electrical Systems of Maine is the only resource you need. MATT@ELECTRICALSYSTEMSOFMAINE.COM WWW.ELECTRICALSYSTEMSOFMAINE.COM 207-783-7126 CAN YOUR BUSINESS OPERATE WITHOUT POWER? • GENERATOR SALES • SERVICE • INSTALLATION INSTALLATION • DESIGN • BUDGETING BUDGETING (207) 846-5577 Dedicated Commercial Sales & Service No matter the size of your eet, our team is here to make sure your downtime is a thing of the past. This tax season, we invite you to see the Casco Bay Ford dierence. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no If you want to deal with Hydro-Quebec, there's no better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. better way than to do it through an RFP. — Sara Burns President and CEO, Central Maine Power

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