🔒Eight years in the making, Avangrid switches on transmission line through Maine

Years in the making, a 145-mile electricity transmission line through western Maine is about to go live, marking a major milestone in the Massachusetts-funded project.

Orange, Conn.-based Avangrid Inc. (NYSE: AGR) in November obtained the final permit required for the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line project, known as NECEC. It operates on hydropower and is expected to reduce carbon emissions, according to a news release.

"With power now flowing today, the NECEC project will provide substantial benefits to Maine people through electricity rate relief, funding for energy efficiency upgrades, broadband, education and other key investments, all while strengthening our grid and without costing Maine ratepayers," said Gov. Janet Mills.

But the project faced hurdles along the way, with opposition from environmental and conservation groups that took issue with the clearing of a corridor through wilderness areas.

Massachusetts contracted to build the line in 2018. A year later, the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved an agreement that said operation of the line would provide more than $240 million in direct benefits to Maine, of which nearly $200 million is dedicated to reducing electricity rates for Maine residents.

In 2020, Mills negotiated with Hydro-Québec, the electricity provider for the NECEC, for an additional $40 million in benefits for Maine ratepayers and to accelerate payments for benefits agreed upon through the 2019 agreement.

The benefits for Maine include tens of millions of dollars for energy efficiency upgrades, broadband expansion, economic development and education initiatives and funding for host communities along the path of the line. In addition, the project is expected to deliver $23 million in tax revenue to local communities in the first year.

"The operation of the Northeast Clean Energy Connect project will reduce our reliance on expensive and imported carbon-intensive fuels, improve electric reliability, and provide long-term revenue for municipalities and our state, said Patrick Woodcock, president and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.

Benefits to Maine

According to the release, benefits to Maine include $140 million in electricity rate relief for Central Maine Power Co. customers, with an additional estimated $50 million from the sale of energy certificates into Maine, according to the governor's office. The project is also expected to provide $50 million in rate relief for low-income customers across the state.

"This morning, the Maine electricity price was half a cent less than the New England price, due primarily to NECEC,” Bob Dorko, president of the Industrial Energy Consumer Group, said of last week’s start of operation. “This is a huge benefit when applied to every kilowatt-hour consumed in Maine today.”

The final permit in November came from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection after it approved a plan to conserve 50,000 acres of Maine wilderness.

Conservation groups — including the Appalachian Mountain Club, Maine Audubon, Natural Resources Council of Maine and Trout Unlimited — said the plan “fails to comply with the permit requirements and should have been denied, so that an improved plan could be brought forward.”

Avangrid is the parent company of Central Maine Power Co. and a subsidiary of Iberdrola S.A. (IBE.MC), a multinational electric utility company based in Bilbao, Spain.

The $1 billion project broke ground  in 2021 despite legal challenges. The line runs through Franklin and Somerset counties and connects with the grid in Lewiston.

The line is built on land owned or managed by Central Maine Power. Two-thirds of the route follows existing power lines and the remaining third of new construction runs through forestry land, according to Iberdrola.