A Maine judge threw out a lawsuit challenging Gov. Paul LePage's unenforced moratorium on wind turbine permits in some areas of the state, but left the order open to future challenges by any aggrieved wind developers.

Superior Court Justice Andrew Horton ruled July 20 that advocacy groups the Conservation Law Foundation, or CLF, and the Maine Renewable Energy Association had failed to prove that LePage's executive order will harm directly any wind project owned by the group's members. The groups had argued that the January order by the governor is unconstitutional for usurping legislative authority and causes uncertainty within the industry.

However, as acknowledged by Horton, LePage, a Republican, has admitted that he has no authority to halt permitting and that his administration is not enforcing the order, which specifically said no new turbine permits can be issued in some areas, such as along the Atlantic coast, along migratory bird pathways and in scenic areas of western Maine, until a new wind energy advisory commission reports on the economic impact of wind farms on tourism.

"LePage's argument that these cases do not present a judiciable controversy rests in part on his contention that the executive order does not mean what it appears to say," Horton wrote in his decision.

The advisory commission set up by wind opponent LePage is comprised of state agencies, lawmakers, local officials, businesses and advocacy groups. But, as reported by the Portland (Maine) Press Herald, LePage's administration refuses to identify its 14 members or allow its meetings to be held in public.

LePage spokesperson Julie Rabinowitz said in a statement that the governor's office appreciates that the court dismissed the suit but refrained from commenting any further, citing the possibility of additional litigation.

CLF attorney Phelps Turner said in a statement that Horton "dismissed the case because he found that CLF's members are not suffering direct harm from the Executive Order, but the Order is still subject to challenge by any wind power developer whose project application is blocked by the Order."

Turner said that his pro-renewables group is considering appealing the decision or, as Horton suggested, participating as a friend-of-the-court in future cases. CLF and the Maine Renewable Energy Association now have 30 days to prove that the order threatens a wind project being developed. The association has said $3 billion to $5 billion in wind energy investments are on hold because of LePage's anti-wind stance. S&P Global Market Intelligence has identified more than 1,800 MW of planned wind energy capacity in Maine affected by the governor's order.