NECEC makes first $5.8M payment to Maine for broadband, energy infrastructure
Photo / Maureen Milliken
The power line corridor in Franklin County where the New England Clean Energy Connect power line will follow the existing corridor.
Hydro-Québec and a Central Maine Power Co. affiliate have made initial benefit payments of $5.8 million to Maine for energy infrastructure as part of the $258 million committed to the state in exchange for the 145-mile Clean Energy Corridor construction, according to a news release from the two companies.
The companies in a joint news release said they have committed $10 million to be paid to the state by the end of the year. The money will be earmarked for broadband expansion, heat pumps, electric vehicles, weatherization and more.
“We are committed to helping Maine advance a clean energy agenda that also benefits the state economically,” said Thorn Dickinson, CEO and president of NECEC, which is a subsidiary of Avangrid Inc. (NYSE: AGR), Central Maine' Power's parent company. NECEC LLC took over the transmission line project from CMP earlier this year.
"Building energy infrastructure is as much about guaranteeing reliable, affordable power to families and businesses as it is about building a long-term partnership," said Sophie Brochu, CEO of Hydro-Quebec said, “We’re happy to support Maine communities and consumers through the funding of forward-thinking initiatives.”
The project has already given $1 million to the state's broadband expansion fund, which will help provide permanent high-speed broadband internet to 40 communities.
Also included in the $5.8 million is:
• $1.750 million to the NECEC rate relief fund;
• $1 million to the heat pump fund;
• $1 million to the electric vehicle fund;
• $625,000 to weatherization and household energy efficiency programs;
• $250,000 to the NECEC education grant fund;
• $250,000 to the Franklin County host community benefits fund.
Construction of the project also has an economic impact, the companies said, including $18 million a year in host community tax revenue, more than 1,600 jobs during construction and a $573 million increase in the state's gross domestic product.
Once completed, it will deliver 1,200 megawatts of hydropower to the New England energy grid, connecting in Lewiston, and will be New England's largest source of renewable energy. The project is being paid for by Massachusetts electricity customers.
Work, controversy continue
Work began in February on the $950 million transmission line, which is being built on land owned or controlled by CMP in Franklin and Somerset counties. Roughly 92 miles of the line will be in an existing power line corridor.
Construction on the 53 miles of new corridor from West Forks to the Canada border is under injunction, as the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston considers arguments by a number of environmental groups that the U.S. Department of Energy and Army Corps of Engineers didn't do enough study on environmental impact before issuing permits.
The Sierra Club Maine, Natural Resources Council of Maine and Appalachian Mountain Club filed the suit in October, part of ongoing opposition to the project. The environmental groups say that the line would permanently damage undeveloped forest and wildlife habitat.
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, has also asked the Biden administration to review the Department of Energy permit allowing the line to cross the international border.
Hydro-Quebec and NECEC counter that the 53 miles of new corridor, which is largely on working forest land, will be cleared using a new technique of tapered vegetation, which preserves more forest canopy and wildlife habitat than typical transmission corridors.
NECEC said the project will allow more renewable energy producers in Maine to get their energy on the grid, and the clean hydro power will reduce the use of fossil fuels, cutting 3 million metric tons of emissions a year.
The public comment period ends at 5 p.m. Thursday on wording of a citizens' initiative referendum to ban construction on the line and require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for any future such projects. The question will be on the Nov. 2 ballot, though the secretary of state is required by law to make sure the language is concise and makes sense.
A petition drive that generated 80,506 valid signatures put the question on the ballot. A similar referendum was knocked down by the state Supreme Judicial Court last year, which ruled citizen initiatives don't have authority on regulatory matters.
In April, Clean Energy Matters, a PAC formed by CMP, charged that most of the money behind the anti-corridor group Mainers for Local Power came from NextEra Energy Resources, Calpine Corporation and Vistra Energy, which all have fossil fuel-powered generating stations in New England. It also charged that the No CMP Corridor PAC counts Mainers for Local Power as their single largest contributor, with 95% of contributions this year coming from the fossil fuel industry.
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