CMP parent company ready to energize controversial corridor by end of year
PORTLAND (WGME) — CMP’s parent company, Avangrid, is about to flip the switch and turn on a controversial power corridor through western Maine.
After years of legal battles and regulatory hurdles, Avangrid now has its final permit for the New England Clean Energy Connect, linking Canadian hydropower to Massachusetts and going right through Maine.
No official start date has been set, but Avangrid says it is on track to energize the transmission line by the end of the year, after it is tested and commissioned.
The last hurdle for Avangrid was obtaining a permit from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to conserve 50,000 acres of Maine wilderness.
It’s a stark contrast to trees being clear-cut through the North Maine Woods to build a 53-mile transmission line that now links Hydro-Quebec to existing lines in Maine.
The estimated cost of the New England Clean Energy Connect Project is $1 billion, paid for by Massachusetts ratepayers.
In return, homeowners there are expected to see their rates drop 2 to 4 percent a year, saving them an estimated $4 billion over the 20-year contract with Hydro-Quebec.
“Mainers will absolutely benefit from it,” Maine Public Advocate Heather Sanborn said.
Sanborn says Canadian hydropower will lower wholesale prices for all of New England by making us less dependent on fluctuating natural gas and oil prices.
“And those wholesale prices are set New England-wide. So Mainers benefit just as much as Massachusetts customers do,” Sanborn said.
Avangrid says the NECEC project will lower costs for consumers by delivering 1,200 megawatts of baseline hydropower from Quebec to New England.
The company says the project will also reduce carbon emissions by up to 3.6 million metric tons annually, the equivalent of removing 700,000 cars from the road.
Avangrid’s CEO says, “[The NECEC addresses] the urgent need for reliable energy at a time of rising demand.”
And the CEO of Avangrid Networks says, “The energy brought into New England through this project will help the region meet its pressing need for power and stabilize energy prices.”
The ISO, which manages the New England grid, believes it will also strengthen grid reliability.
“We’re anticipating testing through the end of the year,” Randy Burlingame of ICO New England said. “And that is imports coming into the region. And we’re anticipating that to provide capacity and supply for the region.”
CBS13 reached out to some of the groups who opposed the NECEC project.
One opposition leader says after almost three years, they’ve put that chapter behind them.