CMP's $1B power-line project holds onto permit, state environmental board decides

Work to create a 145-mile electricity transmission line through western Maine inched closer to resuming, after a state board on Thursday rejected an attempt to overturn an environmental permit for the project.

The Maine Board of Environmental Protection denied an appeal by a coalition against the permit, granted in May 2020 to Central Maine Power Co. for construction of the New England Clean Energy Connect line.

The $1 billion project, which broke ground last year despite several ongoing legal challenges, is intended to deliver 1,200 megawatts of hydropower from Quebec to the New England energy grid. If built as planned, the transmission line would run through Franklin and Somerset counties and connect with the grid in Lewiston.

Besides CMP, parent company Avangrid Inc. (NYSE: AGR) and Canadian power producer Hydro-Quebec are backing NECEC, which could ultimately be the region’s largest source of renewable energy.

The opposing coalition includes the Natural Resources Council of Maine, an environmental advocate; a group of western Maine residents; and NextEra Energy Resources LLC, a potential clean-energy competitor with the project.

After hearing arguments for two days this week, the BEP ruled against the opponents and affirmed the permit order. However, the board added conditions regarding compensation for any effects on natural habitats and for decommissioning of the project.

Despite the small victory, NECEC still faces potential roadblocks that may or may not be ultimately cleared by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Perhaps the most daunting is last November’s citizens referendum, which effectively halted the project.

CMP and other supporters of the corridor have challenged the legality of the referendum, which passed with a 59% majority. It’s not clear when the court will rule on the issue, as well as other legal questions that remain.