It’s great to see the Belfast City Council cutting a ribbon on new electric charging stations. This paired with all the solar arrays they’ve helped to install is the kind of forward vision we need. All of those efforts would be erased if Nordic Aquafarms built their proposed factory that would require a minimum peak demand of 28 Megawatts. This is equal to the energy use of six Midcoast cities combined.

CMP told state regulators that it will file a three-year rate increase proposal later this summer. Nordic Aquafarms can’t be built without CMP building a $63,000,000 power grid upgrade. Governor Mills has stated that she opposes the CMP rate hike, and she called on them to not file the request. Yet the Governor is a supporter of Nordic’s fish factory.

We can’t have it both ways. The city and state can’t meet their carbon reduction goals while supporting carbon intensive industries.

Sally Brophy lives in Belfast