October 17, 2012

Fight over who gets Augusta pipeline deal heads to court

Maine Natural Gas and Summit Natural Gas have been battling over who will serve Kennebec Valley.

By Keith Edwards kedwards@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA — The battle over who gets a deal to bring a natural gas pipeline to Augusta and potentially the Kennebec Valley region is headed for court.

Maine Natural Gas initially won a state project to bring a pipeline to state property in Augusta that was capable of being expanded to serve much of the region, but that award was overturned last month in Summit Natural Gas of Maine's appeal.

Now, Maine Natural Gas has filed a lawsuit claiming Summit missed a 15-day deadline when it filed its appeal -- apparently by one day. The suit is filed in Kennebec County Superior Court.

The company is asking the court to vacate the appeals panel decision, reinstate the state Bureau of General Services' decision to award the project to Maine Natural Gas and refer the matter to the Bureau of General Services to determine whether the appeal hearing should have been held.

State law regarding administrative procedures and the competitive bid process says an appeal must be filed with the Bureau of General Services within 15 days of notification of the contract award.

The lawsuit says Summit's appeal was filed too late.

Kennebec Journal Staff Writer Keith Edwards can be contacted at 621-5647 or at:

kedwards@centralmaine.com

 

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