Opponents of Maine electricity corridor won't appeal verdict allowing CMP to restart project - WMTW Portland

Opponents of Maine electricity corridor won't appeal verdict allowing CMP to restart project

Central Maine Power project revived by April jury verdict that nullifed November 2021 referendum

The losing parties in Central Maine Power's successful lawsuit to restart its controversial electricity corridor through the Maine woods have decided not to appeal, clearing the way for the company to restart the project later this year.

The decisions, reported first by Maine’s Total Coverage on Friday, follow the unanimous 9-0 jury verdict in a two-week civil trial in state court.

Friday was the three-week post-verdict deadline for any appeals to be filed.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine, the lead environmental group opposed to the project, said Friday, "A jury of nine Mainers has spoken, and while we don't agree with the decision, we respect the process and have decided not to pursue an appeal.”

Tom Saviello, who led a group of citizens opposed to the project, also said they would not appeal.

Maine voters temporarily stopped the hydropower project CMP branded New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) with a referendum 19 months ago.

The referendum, Question 1 on the Novemner 2021 ballot, won 59% to 41%.

But CMP immediately sued the state to reverse the results, arguing the referendum was unconstitutional for creating a retroactive law nullifying a project that had been lawfully permitted by numerous state and federal government agencies.

Last August, the state supreme court ruled the lawsuit could proceed and instructed the trial court to determine whether CMP had vested rights in the project -- those permits and $450 million spent – and the jury found on April 20 that it did.

NECEC is a 145-mile electricity transmission corridor through the Maine woods stretching from Maine's border with Canada to a substation in Lewiston that would transmit electricity generated by hydropower in Quebec to the New England power grid, primarily to serve customers in Massachusetts.

More than a-third of path, 53 miles, was created by clear-cutting trees.

Arguing the project would mitigate climate change, CMP has predicted the corridor, delivering 1,200 megawatts of electricity generated by renewable hydropower instead of fossil fuels, would reduce Maine's carbon emissions by 3 million tons annually, the equivalent of removing 700,000 cars from the road.

NRCM’s statement continued: “The transition to a clean energy future won't work if we repeat the mistakes of the past, which is why we'll continue to oppose this proposal to redirect existing energy to maximize profit for Hydro-Quebec and CMP. We'll always stand up for what's right for Maine's environment and that means continuing to push for new, home-grown sources of clean energy that reduce pollution, create jobs for Maine people, respect indigenous land, and strengthen our communities."

Saviello, who lead the referendum petition drive, said: "I still say 243,000 Maine voters say no to the NECEC. The superior court judges said no. Unfortunately, the supreme court court has ignored the lower courts and the will of the people. I hope they are proud."

On the same side as Saviello and NRCM, the state attorney general's office defended the law at trial.

The state supreme court handed NECEC opponents a second defeat when it ruled last November that a Maine Bureau of Park and Lands lease of one-mile section of corridor land was valid.

Four government agencies -- the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Department of Energy -- reviewed and approved the project.

MDEP suspended NECEC's construction permit three weeks after the 2021 referendum.

MDEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim told Maine’s Total Coverage this week if the trial’s verdict was not challenged, her department would be inclined to unfreeze the construction permit in the near future.

Deputy Commissioner David Madore told Maine's Total Coverage the departmjent will review the issue next week.

Avangrid, CMP’s parent company in the U.S., stated in a recent earnings report that it intended to resume work on the corridor this summer.

“The NECEC project team is pleased to hear that opponents will not appeal the unanimous jury verdict. This project is one of the most important renewable energy projects to be proposed in Maine and the northeast," Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said in a written statement Friday. "It will provide property tax relief to communities along the corridor and remove more than three million metric tons of carbon from our atmosphere annually.”