A consulting firm based in Massachusetts has been awarded a $300,000 taxpayer-funded contract to advise the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) on soliciting bids for offshore wind energy development and renewable energy projects in northern Maine.

Power Advisory LLC, a consulting firm with offices in Concord, Mass., and Toronto, Canada, will be paid $309,000 to advise state agencies on development Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to procure renewable energy contracts for two projects in northern Maine, as well as for the state’s Offshore Wind Energy Procurement Program (OSW Program).

According to a state contract document published Tuesday, MPUC is preparing to conduct several competitive solicitations as part of the Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development and OSW programs.

Those solicitations include a transmission line capable of connecting at least 1,200 megawatts of renewable energy resources located in northern Maine, as well as “qualified renewable energy generation projects in northern Maine designed to connect to and transmit generated power using the transmission line.”

Although not stated explicitly in the notice to waive competitive bidding, the northern Maine transmission line is likely the same project abandoned last year by LS Power, which is intended to connect New England’s power grid to a proposed Aroostook County wind farm that will be owned 92 percent by foreign interests.

“Support will cover all relevant considerations, including best practices and lessons learned from other jurisdictions, whether and how to coordinate with other procuring entities, maximizing regional and federal funding, addressing project-on-project risk of separately developed generation and transmission, design of procurements, resulting agreements, and reporting requirements, and identification and mitigation of risks to both Programs,” the state contract reads.

Power Advisory LLC has worked on over fifty competitive solicitations in the past, including over 10 offshore wind project solicitations, and has assisted the state in the past with the proposed offshore wind “research array” in the Gulf of Maine, according to MPUC staff.

“Based on this experience Power Advisory has a strong understanding of the procurement frameworks used by other New England states, which will assist in evaluating opportunities for coordination with these states,” staff wrote.

State employee wage and benefits records from the Office of the State Controller show that a staff member in Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ Energy Office who managed offshore wind projects for the state as recently as last year is now working for Power Advisory LLC, the private consulting firm awarded the $300,000 contract.

Gwyneth Roberts, now a senior consultant at Power Advisory LLC, previously worked in the Mills administration as an “offshore wind project manager,” “energy policy analyst,” and “[senior] adviser for regulatory affairs,” earning a salary of just over $33,000 in 2023, the records show.

Roberts was one of several Mills administration staff members acknowledged for her work as part of the Governor’s Energy Office’s Offshore Wind Roadmap from 2023.

Incoming President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced his opposition to offshore wind, citing an increase in dead whales washing up on the northeastern coast.

“The windmills are driving the whales crazy, obviously,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-A-Lago on Tuesday.

The substantial consultancy contract awarded by the Mills administration may indicate that the state intends to move forward with its offshore wind development plans in the Gulf of Maine, despite the potential lack of financial support from the federal government under Trump.