A Maine jury granted a reprieve to Avangrid Inc.’s proposed transmission line that would send renewable energy from Canada to New England, allowing the $1-billion project to push ahead.
(Bloomberg) — A Maine jury granted a reprieve to Avangrid Inc.’s proposed transmission line that would send renewable energy from Canada to New England, allowing the $1-billion project to push ahead.
The developer of the New England Clean Energy Connect line was acting in good faith as it continued construction ahead of a state referendum to block the project, according to a unanimous verdict announced Thursday. The decision means the project may lawfully proceed, Avangrid said in a statement.
“Even after repeated delays and the costs caused by the change in law, the NECEC project remains the best way to bring low-cost renewable energy to Maine and New England,” Avangrid’s General Counsel Scott Mahoney said in the statement.
Maine residents voted to halt the project in November 2021, even though the Orange, Connecticut-based company had already spent $450 million and begun construction. The planned 145-mile (233-kilometer) line would deliver power from Hydro-Quebec, Canada’s largest electricity producer, through Maine.
Hydro-Quebec will collaborate with its Maine partner to determine next steps, the utility said in a Thursday statement. The company has said in the past that it expects C$10 billion in potential revenue from the project over 20 years.
The Maine Supreme Court ruled in August that the referendum may have violated the company’s rights after the developers had secured the necessary permits. However, it also sent the case back to a lower court where the jury had to decide whether Avangrid had accelerated construction in an effort to invalidate the referendum.
Avangrid shares were down 0.5% to $40.39 at 3:09 p.m. in New York.
Maine officials could still appeal the decision.
(Adds comment from Avangrid, Hydro-Quebec from second paragraph.)
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