The new requirement would give developers the security they need to negotiate financing for new technologies, said Bob Wengryznek of Evergreen Wind Power LLC, the Bangor-based developer behind the Mars Hill project.

"Take Maine out of the 19th century and bring it into the 21st," he said Monday.

Maine already has a law requiring that 30 percent of the state's power be renewable energy, a provision that the state far exceeds, because the definition of "renewable" is very broad and includes large hydroelectric dams and natural gas plants, according to Beth Nagusky, director of the Maine Office of Energy Independence and Security.

The new provision laid out in LD 1929 wouldn't change the existing renewable requirement. However, it would add a second provision that a portion of Maine's energy - 1 percent in 2005 and growing incrementally to 5 percent in 2013 - come from small producers that use fuel cells, tides, solar power, wind, geothermal energy, methane gas from landfills, biomass or trash incinerators, or hydroelectric generators.

The 30 turbines proposed for a ridge atop Mars Hill Mountain would produce about 50 megawatts - just enough to meet the requirement in the law.

Nagusky and the bill's sponsor, Rep. Jacqueline Lundeen, D-Mars Hill, described the program as an economic development tool that would promote a new wind industry in Maine.

An analysis done by the State Planning Office based on information provided by Evergreen indicates that during the construction phase of the Mars Hill wind farm nearly 800 jobs would be created and hundreds of thousands of dollars would be pumped into the local economy. In the long term, the wind farm's economic benefit would exceed $66 million, Nagusky said.

"Wind can provide us with a tremendous cash crop," she said. "[But] wind power development will not just appear on its own."

The new requirement would create a market for more expensive "clean" technologies such as wind power by requiring electricity suppliers to purchase it. In the case of a shortage of power to meet the 1 percent requirement, electricity suppliers would pay the state a penalty of $35 per kilowatt hour, which would be used to create a fund for the development of new clean power sources. The proposal is similar to requirements in 13 other states, including nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Opponents of the plan pointed out that in a worst-case scenario - if no suppliers purchase clean power - electricity users would end up paying the cost of the $35 per kilowatt hour penalty - $4 million the first year alone and $19 million by the eighth year.

Nagusky testified that even in the worst-case scenario, an average household would see an increase of just 20 cents per month in their electricity bill.

Opponents also tallied the potential state and federal tax breaks and incentives that such a wind farm could receive, making the argument that such a profitable business is not in need of further state subsidy.

The Mars Hill project still requires permits from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Monday, state officials said they expect a decision soon because concerns about wildlife mortality are being addressed.

No one actually testified that the project would fall through without the new requirement, but Wengryznek said lawmakers could encourage this and other wind-development projects throughout the state.

"We're here to stay ... assuming we have [this law]," he said.

He also told lawmakers that General Electric, the company that will produce Evergreen's turbines, will consider building a plant in Maine, which would employ more than 1,000 people, if the state commits to developing wind power. GE officials hope to meet with the governor and his economic development advisers soon, he said.

"Mars Hill is only the tip of the iceberg," Wengryznek said.

A work session on LD 1929 has been scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 24, in Room 214 of the Cross State Office Building.