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A mid-November meeting in Searsport brought together various conservatives, liberals, Native American leaders and environmentalists who all believe Maine should not use Sears Island to build a large offshore wind port.
The odd alliance, ranging from Rep. Aaron Dana of the #Passamaquoddy Tribe to former Gov. Paul LePage’s energy advisor, at the Nov. 18 meeting organized by Rep. Reagan Paul, R-Winterport, highlights the tricky politics coloring the project key to Maine’s climate goals.
Paul, 24, a self-described “Christian constitutional conservative,” and Rep. Lynne Williams, 73, a Bar Harbor Democrat and lawyer who said she and Paul are “polar opposites on most issues,” are part of the contingent against using Sears Island for a deepwater wind port for different reasons.
Paul opposes offshore wind in general while Williams, who sought the Maine Green Independent Party nomination for governor in 2010, views nearby Mack Point as the better location.
At the same time, Searsport’s town manager, an ex-Republican lawmaker, believes the opposition is shortsighted and ignores the wind project’s potential economic and environmental benefits. The wind port location will not get chosen until 2024, per state officials.
Paul said the meeting showed “we are more than the R or D behind our names.”
“We are Mainers and neighbors who can bring communities together one conversation at a time,” she said Friday.
Although Maine considered four locations for the port, or not building it at all, Mack Point and Sears Island are the two contenders. Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, announced the deepwater port plan in 2021 after unveiling a broader offshore wind initiative in 2019. The Maine Department of Transportation is leading the project.
DOT spokesperson Paul Merrill said Maine’s other deepwater ports in Portland and Eastport were initially considered but taken off the table due to lacking enough land with tide access and the large amount of rock and earth removal required to create a flat 100-acre site, respectively.
Environmentalists have complained the state has long preferred building it on Sears Island rather than on nearby, privately owned Mack Point. While Merrill acknowledged Mack Point’s challenges include dredging and an existing rail line, he said the DOT is “committed to continuing discussions” with all sides and that each site has a cost estimate between $400 million to $500 million. Mack Point would cost additional money to lease since the DOT does not own that land, Merrill added.
The 941-acre #SearsIsland, the largest #undeveloped island in Penobscot Bay, is connected to the mainland by a causeway and is located off the coast of Searsport, the Route 1 town of about 2,600 residents. The state owns the island, though Native Americans who called it Wassumkeag, or “bright sand beach,” used it over thousands of years for camping, hunting, fishing and resting along paddling routes.
#MaineCoastHeritageTrust holds roughly 600 acres under a 2007 conservation easement, with 330 acres reserved as a “transportation parcel” for potential use as a cargo and container port, according to #FriendsOfSearsIsland, a volunteer-run nonprofit that manages the island’s conserved area.
The wind port debate is significant to Maine’s goal of reaching 80 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent clean energy by 2040. The Maine Climate Council released an annual report Friday showing renewable energy use is now at 51 percent.
Mills also aims to procure 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine by 2040, with several onshore wind projects advancing slowly and with some public pushback as well.
A University of Maine researcher said it will cost up to $10 billion to reach Maine’s goal of 3,000 megawatts of offshore power but noted long-term savings and benefits over continued fossil-fuel dependence.
The Alliance for Sears Island, made up of conservation groups and citizens, wants the wind port built on nearby Mack Point, noting its existing development and “historical coal and oil-based working waterfront” that handles cargo vessels.
Paul said while the “fight to protect Sears Island” is “nonpartisan,” she criticized Democrats in Augusta for pushing wind projects and potentially making Sears Island “the next natural resource to be offered up to be sacrificed.”
Williams differs from Paul over renewable energy initiatives, but the two agree Mack Point is the better choice. Williams said Transportation Commissioner Bruce Van Note will face “incredible pushback” if Sears Island is chosen and that protesters may risk arrest by holding “sleep-ins” on the island.
An advisory group featuring government, conservation and business representatives met between March 2022 and this summer to discuss how Maine could add to the nation's two existing offshore wind farms off Rhode Island and Virginia.
The state aims to build massive hulls to steady the tall blade structures at an onshore port to lessen risks from shipping large components out to sea for assembly. The port would require clearing 100 acres for the main terminal along with expanding road access and parking.
Friends of Sears Island said one-third of the island would be “changed forever” if used for the wind port, with other speakers at the recent meeting arguing not only land but also marine habitat would suffer. Additionally, opponents said accompanying noise and lights on the western shore would disturb the island’s hiking and birding opportunities that draw international visitors.
Rolf Olsen, Friends of Sears Island’s vice president, said local residents have successfully opposed plans spanning decades to develop the area, such as an effort about 10 years ago to build a 22 million-gallon liquid propane storage tank in Searsport. A “traffic counter” last used on the island in 2021 recorded about 16,800 cars visiting during summer months, he said.
“I believe there is a faction of people in the DOT that wants Sears Island developed come hell or high water,” Olsen, who served on the offshore wind advisory group, said.
Though he disagrees with many of Paul’s conservative views on issues such as abortion and guns, Olsen appreciated hearing from her and others “representing the entire political spectrum” at the November meeting.
David Italiaander, a Searsport resident and international agricultural commodity trading consultant, said most speakers “were cogent, poignant and compelling.”
“Politics does make for strange bedfellows,” Italiaander said.
Still, not all residents and officials agree on ruling out Sears Island. Searsport Town Manager James Gillway, who co-chaired the advisory group and was a Republican state representative from 2010 to 2018, said the state’s process has been “open” and University of Maine researchers have worked to “finetune” Maine’s offshore wind potential.
Gillway attended Paul’s meeting and said many attendees were not from the Searsport area but tried to make “emotional” arguments. (Paul pushed back and said her sign-in sheets show most attendees were from Searsport and other Waldo County towns.)
“One gentleman mentioned dumping offshore wind blades in the ocean,” Gillway added. “That kind of conjecture is not very helpful to the conversation.”
Despite hurdles involving logistics, costs and public skepticism, Gillway said the offshore wind port could lead to numerous benefits for the Searsport area.
“Our region’s been suffering since the Bucksport paper mill closed,” Gillway said. “This has the promise to replace all of that and then some.”
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