AUGUSTA -- A study panel formed to recommend how to regulate energy corridors across Maine put off its final decision Wednesday as members wrestled with a last-minute bid to extend a moratorium on proposed projects.

The extension was rejected in a close, nonbinding vote by the study panel. It was presented by paper mills and other industrial energy consumers that want to tie energy corridor rules to support for liquefied natural gas terminals.

Other issues, including how to treat oil and natural gas pipelines and whether to include corridors less than a certain distance, proved contentious enough that the group ran out of time.

It scheduled a final meeting for Dec. 2, the day the recommendations are due with the legislative committee that handles utility matters. The suggestions ultimately will be turned into a proposed law next year that would pave the way for developers to build new energy corridors across Maine.

The 13-member group has been meeting since September to seek agreement on how Maine can benefit from proposed transmission projects that could carry power from Canada to populated areas in the Northeast.

Members have been trying to craft rules and policies to expedite permits, such as designating interstate highways for the lines to follow. In exchange, the state could get millions of dollars a year in lease payments and -- some panel members insist -- apply the money to lower electricity rates.

"If we don't achieve that objective, we fail," said Rep. Kenneth Fletcher, R-Winslow.

But there's debate on how to do that. Moratorium supporters, led on the panel by Keith Van Scotter, president of Lincoln Paper and Tissue, say LNG from proposed terminals in Washington County could reduce power costs for manufacturers.

Canada opposes the shipping route to the terminals, and Van Scotter and his allies hope they can put pressure on Canada by threatening further delay on energy corridors.

Complicating the panel's work is last month's announcement that Hydro Quebec, one of the continent's largest utilities, plans to buy New Brunswick Power. Panel members worry that Hydro Quebec could bypass Maine, perhaps by running a line through New Hampshire, to reach Boston.