It’s not often that Maine — or any state — has an opportunity to become the hub of a worldwide innovator.

It’s not often that Maine has a billion-dollar company knocking on our door, promising hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, hundreds of jobs in a cutting edge industry and long-term collaboration with some of our most reputable local businesses like Bath Iron Works and Reed & Reed.

Well, opportunity knocked.

Earlier this year, Maine made a commitment to Statoil, a Norwegian energy innovator, to develop a $200 million ocean energy project. Some compared Statoil’s project as “the next Google or Apple for the state of Maine.”

Much like lumber, lobster and blueberries, Maine is rich in another natural resource: wind. It’s a resource you can’t grow or harvest. Either you have it or you don’t. Maine has it. And those in the burgeoning energy industry want it, because wind is the energy generator of the future.

Statoil is an international expert in the manufacturing and production of wind energy solutions, and they began courting Maine more than two years ago. Along the way, they invested more than $3 million in Maine preparing its bid and eventual contract to build a first-of-its-kind floating wind turbine in deep water off Boothbay Harbor.

And then the project came to a screeching halt. Statoil pulled out and terminated its investment in Maine.

Not because the wind stopped blowing. Not because they weren’t over the moon with the quality and caliber of our work force and the local, on-the-ground partnerships they established. It was “political uncertainty.”

To some, Statoil’s decision was no surprise; the writing was on the wall after a series of hijinx orchestrated by Gov. Paul LePage.

The proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” came late in the legislative session when the governor spearheaded a measure that undermined and jeopardized an existing agreement between the state and Statoil by reopening the bidding process.

LePage yanked out the welcome mat and changed the rules of the game. Not only did this close the door on Statoil, it was also a huge step backward for Maine’s energy policy.

But this, too, comes at no surprise. The governor’s contempt for wind power is well-known — even though, in every corner of the state, Mainers overwhelming support wind power.

To be clear, the devastation of this broken deal is not about how you feel about wind. It’s about the irreversible damage and blow to Maine’s business reputation — a message that Maine doesn’t keep its promises. It’s a message of bad faith. It’s a message that a handshake and a deal mean nothing — even if you want to invest millions in our state. It’ss a terrible message to send to the rest of the country — or to the world.

STATE SEN. JUSTIN ALFOND, D-Portland, is Maine Senate president.