NECEC Transmission LLC, developer of the $1 billion New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project, decided to stop construction of the overhead high-voltage, direct-current transmission project at the request of Maine Gov. Janet Mills.
The request came Nov. 19, as Mills certified state election results including referendum results where 59% of Maine voters approved a ballot measure to halt construction of the line.
Though Mills supported the project, the governor sent a letter to Thorn Dickinson, president and CEO of NECEC Transmission, asking the Avangrid Inc. subsidiary to pause construction until the matter is settled in the courts. "On behalf of Maine people, I am asking you to honor their will by immediately halting any further construction on NECEC until the [Maine Department of Environmental Protection] and the court reach their independent conclusions," Mills stated in the letter. "While you are not legally obligated to do so at this point, immediately halting construction in a voluntary manner will send a clear message to the people of Maine that you respect their will. I strongly urge you to do so."
In a Nov. 19 statement, Dickinson said the company will comply with the governor's request but was disheartened by what this means for workers.
"This was not an easy decision," Dickinson said. "Suspending construction will require the layoff of more than 400 Mainers just as the holiday season begins. It will also require the suspension of millions of dollars in future benefit payments being made to customers, businesses and host communities."
Dickinson told S&P Market Intelligence earlier in November that more than $350 million has already been spent on the project covering project designs, filing and working through permit processes, awarding construction contracts to Maine-based vendors, acquiring a converter station, structures, wiring, a conductor for broadband and more.
Avangrid, NECEC, as well as Hydro-Québec, the partner developer for the transmission line, have joined in filed a lawsuit in Maine Superior Court arguing the ballot referendum to stop the transmission project violates multiple legal principles, including the vested rights of a property owner who has invested in a project based on the laws in place at that time.
Dickinson has also been vocal about fossil fuel companies contributing money in opposition to the project and said the latest setbacks are rewards for their interference. "It's a valuable return on their more than $25 million political investment, while Mainers bear the environmental and economic cost," Dickinson said in his Nov. 19 statement.
Avangrid is a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola SA.
