AUGUSTA — The debate over the future of Sears Island returned to the State House Wednesday with the introduction of two bills aimed at restricting or preventing the construction of a wind port.
Rep. Reagan Paul (R-Winterport) is sponsoring one bill to extend conservation easement protections and another to reverse a bill passed last year to allow limited development on a sand dune.
Paul described the 940-acre, uninhabited island as “one of the last undeveloped gems on the eastern seaboard” during testimony before the Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
“Sears Island is more than just a beautiful landscape it is the place that has long stood at the heart of a deep and ongoing conversation,” she said. “For decades, its fate has been debated.”
Dating back to 1985, the state spent 17 years acquiring parts of the island, said Matt Burns of the Maine Department of Transportation. Through the years, the island in Penobscot Bay, which is now connected by a causeway, was considered for a nuclear power plant, wood chip manufacturing facility, liquid natural gas terminal, a container port and now a wind port to support a floating offshore wind turbine array.
After taking office, Gov. Janet Mills directed a study to compare Sears Island and nearby Mack Point — an industrial site owned by Sprague Energy — to see which location would best be suited for a wind port.
In announcing the Sears Island decision in February 2024, Mills emphasized that only part of the island will be used for the port, with the remaining two-thirds conserved for recreation and wildlife. A major reason to pick land on Sears Island is that the state already owns it and it has been earmarked as a potential site for commercial development for more than 10 years, she said.
It will also not require as much dredging to make it usable for the types of ships that will need access to the site.
In testimony in opposition to Paul’s bills on Wednesday, Burns said the port would bring jobs, provide a place to help grow the clean energy economy and enable access to renewable energy.
“The benefits of an offshore wind port on Sears Island to the state economy and environment could be transformational,” he said.
Yet he acknowledged that the state did not receive needed federal funds to support the project, and that the future of offshore wind is uncertain.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order calling for a review of all wind leasing and permitting practices. The order references potential “grave harm” from onshore and offshore wind, including “negative impacts on navigational safety interests, transportation interests, national security interests, commercial interests and marine mammals.”
Burns said the state may choose to pursue a public/private partnership to build the port, rather than rely on public funding.
Regardless, the project will need to undergo at least a two-year permitting process once it gets needed funds, he said.
Paul, who opposes offshore wind, said it’s time for the state to abandon the development of Sears Island once and for all.
“It’s time for Gov. Mills to cut our losses and do what is right,” she said. “Place the entire island into a conservation easement. Sears Island isn’t just an untouched natural resource, it’s a major economic driver for our region attracting tens of thousands of visitors every year from across the world.”
The committee will vote on the bills, LD 226 and LD 735, in the coming weeks.
