SACO — A once heavily disputed power line upgrade is now under construction and is expected to be completed by summer of 2012.

The line will run from Louden Road and will span about seven miles, passing alongside Saco Middle School and the Chelsea Circle, Jenkins Road, and Rotary Drive neighborhoods, as well as Industrial Road.

Work began this fall and will be completed by spring or early summer, said CMP spokesman John Carroll.

The new line will replace an existing power line with a double-circuit line, which will have a 115 kV line and a 34.5 kV line. The 34.5 kV line could be replaced in the future with a 115 kV line, if need be. This would allow the power company to make an additional upgrade in the future, if necessary, without having to rebuild, said Carroll. Work is being done along corridors with equipment and practices that will preserve the vegetation. Plants might be damaged in the process, he said, but root structures and topsoil won’t be destroyed, and within six months after the work is completed, the corridor will “look like nothing happened.”

At 75 feet high, the new poles will be higher than the ones they replaced, but there will be about a third fewer poles, said Carroll.

The current upgrade is necessary, said Carroll, to meet the needs of increasing demand for electricity.

CMP began working on this project nearly six years ago and faced opposition from the city and abutters. The city had paid more than $100,000 in legal fees in its fight against the project.

Concerns were raised in the past by the city and abutters to the project that the proposed lines would increase the electromagnetic fields and lead to health risks, but the Public Utilities Commission reported the proposed lines would decrease the electromagnetic fields. There had also been concern about the impact on housing values.

In 2008, the City of Saco passed an ordinance that would require high-voltage lines, such as the ones that are being installed, within 200 feet of any residence, school building or playground, public recreation field, or place of employment to be buried underground. In 2009, the PUC, which governs CMP and other utilities, had ordered the lines to be installed aboveground.

In January of this year, the PUC granted CMP an exemption to Saco’s ordinance, allowing the company to move forward with its plans. At the time of the decision, then PUC spokeswoman Evelyn deFrees said the decision was made due to the exorbitant cost to Maine ratepayers should the lines be placed underground.

Saco Mayor Mark Johnston said the city and former Mayor Roland “Ron” Michaud did an admirable job of listening to the concerns of the community. He said there was an exhaustive review by the PUC and the decision has been made. Personally, he said he wasn’t completely against the project, but had weighed on the side of caution and wanted to look at alternatives. He said he did some research and underground lines are very expensive to maintain and can dramatically increase utility rates.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or [email protected].