Letter to the Editor: NECEC and the importance of broadband

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The New England Clean Energy Connect is bringing thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment to Maine. But there is another aspect of this project that has gone somewhat under the radar that is critically important to Maine, increased broadband capability in Somerset and Franklin counties.

I cannot stress enough how frustrating it is to not have reliable broadband service, especially in the post-COVID world we are now living in. So many of us who are lucky enough to still be working are now doing it from home. Try hosting a Zoom meeting in a neighborhood where your broadband is spotty. Have you been to parts of western Maine lately? If not, get ready to take a trip back to the 1980’s. There is no question it hurts economic development.

Why would a business want to set up shop in a part of the state where service is unreliable? Why would customers go to a restaurant or café where it they can’t sit down and check their phones for the scores of the ball game or the latest news as they enjoy a meal?

CMP promises to bring expanded broadband cable as part of the NECEC project. We should support it with open arms. The time has come for Maine to join the 21st century.

David Ballard
Farmington

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13 Comments

  1. Thousands of jobs ? How many millions of dollars? Money for the citizens ? Promises of enhanced broadband ? Really? We get all that plus 39 cents a month ? Sounds to good to be true !

  2. Hogwash on the jobs.
    Solve the bandwidth problem without tying it to another problem. Even if you did trust that CMP is somehow going to become the benevolent provider of high speed internet. Stop trusting CMP, that are buying you off with false rhetoric

  3. It’s simple,
    Maine, The Way Life Should Be.
    Life In The Slow Lane.

    There plenty of other places that offer what YOU want.

  4. Lots of need for reliable broadband service – distance learning, work from home, access to major news sources, etc., but please, not so a diner can check his phone during a meal.

  5. Well, I don’t know about you, but getting broadband service is certainly worth flattening 3500 acres of land forever. Small price to pay, hey? And think about the businesses that we could attract because we have broadband and a new skidoo trail straight to the Canadian border. David, did you ever think about why people come to Maine? Apparently not.

  6. In response to the letter of David Ballard dated May 28, 2020.
    It sounds to me that Mr. Ballard’s chief complaint is having poor broadband reception while in the mountainous northwest region of Maine. While I’m sure this is an inconvenience to him and a few others in that area, it is extremely petty to me and most others who will be adversely affected by this corridor if built. I will try to explain.
    Most people covet, desire, and or pursue something in our lives. It’s our motivation for doing what we do in life to reach our life goals. We call this “THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS”. Some people pursue money so they can purchase most anything they want. Others have reached their goal of living in the western mountains of Maine, and are perfectly happy there, without broadband and some, completely off the grid!
    The 153 mile cmp corridor is a perfect example of people who covet, value, and pursue money. The people of rural Maine, namely along the cmp corridor have pursued their destination to live their lives and deserve to remain there without an invasive power-line. Bullying these people out of their land/way of life, usually by eminent domain,
    Is a heartless move by cmp, and frankly I think it’s on the same level as rape! Cmp is taking what morally belongs to others and trying to convince Mainers that it’s good!
    If uninterrupted broadband is your priority, move to the city, but don’t bulldoze my forest because you have been inconvenienced at home or local diner!

    Peter Mckeown: Turner,maine

  7. Ozerk, according to Beth Alafat from EPA (WGME news May 4) 1800 acres would be cleared. Typical of your type to exaggerate when you have such a weak argument. Also to support your ‘sky is falling’ claim the naysayers like to confuse a right of way with actual cleared land.

  8. There is a reason CMP is not touting broadband upgrades to our rural counties as a positive for this project…because they dont really plan on doing it. They might put the brackets up on the poles, but thats about it.

  9. Captain Planet, Not sure whether you are just naive or actually own stock in cmp. I have thoroughly reviewed the maps/diagrams provided by cmp to the MPUC and calculated the acreage. If you look at the actual diagrams cmp states that the necec would use only 150′ of right-of-way but cmp’s application called for a 300′ right-of-way (and in some places 400′). While they ‘assign’ or ‘attribute’ only 150′ feet to the necec the entire APPROVED RoW is 300′-400′ and the total acreage that is going to be flattened is 3500 acres. So, do your research instead of blindly criticizing someone who did.

  10. Peter,

    excellent view point. i agree with you 100%. “Hold the phone” you also make a very excellent point.
    And everyone else who doesn’t trust CMP (like myself) should really think about their actions, especially
    the multi-millions spent on the advertising campaign. I think the recent news article that CMP donated a
    paltry $10,000 for scholarships in Maine schools was laughable and probably did more damage to their
    reputation than good. There are many hard working “small business owners” who have donated more to
    Maine schools.

  11. This will only end up with people having the ability to pay another monthly bill. Marie E has eluded to needing it so people can get reliable news yet in another comment of hers in another op ed pointed towards me (I believe) wanted me to read an article from the LA times because I refuse to pay a monthly bill for satellite or cable and have only rabbit ears for an antenna on my tv. My phone comes with access to any website I want to look up. Why do I need another monthly bill ? I don’t and I don’t need this corridor.

  12. Ozerki, you are the ignorant one spreading lies. ROW’s are almost never cleared to their full width. The larger ROW is to keep idiots like yourself away from the actual corridor. Why don’t you do some unbiased research as I have and adjust your claims.

  13. CP – how can you actually state what you stated? The 300′ RoW will be cleared for a HVDC line and then for wind towers. I suppose that having already made up your mind you will continue to find anything you can to support that decision. Just an FYI – that’s usually not the way research works. So, what’s your authority to make claims that you can’t support? Face it, you are dead wrong and won’t admit it.

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