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The battle over a power line in Maine features a television advertisement depicting felled pine trees in the wooded U.S. state paired with noir images of a corporate tower in modern Bilbao, near the Guggenheim art museum. A voiceover declares: “A good deal for Spain, and a bad deal for Maine.”
The Spanish utility company Iberdrola S.A.’s political action committee has spent almost US$15 million to promote its US$950 million New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) electric transmission project which would run for more than 230 kilometres. Yet last month opponents won a partial stay of construction in court and an activist group filed papers to hold a state referendum to revoke its permits.
/CNW Telbec/ - In a presentation on its financial results for 2020, Hydro-Québec announced that it had posted net income of $2,303 million, down $620 million.
Leaders of No CMP Corridor say they collected those signatures in near-record time. Author: Don Carrigan Updated: 6:21 AM EST January 22, 2021
AUGUSTA, Maine Box after box went through the security gate at the Cross State Office Building, as opponents of the proposed transmission line to Quebec pursued their latest effort to block the controversial project.
Leaders of No CMP Corridor say they collected those signatures in near-record time, starting the petition just before Election Day in November and gathering signatures from more than 500 Maine towns and cities in just over two months. The boxes of petitions were wheeled upstairs to the Secretary of State’s office, which will now review all the signatures to make sure there are enough valid names to put the issue on the referendum ballot.
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AVANGRID Inc., a sustainable energy company, has announced that it has received the Presidential Permit from the US Department of Energy for its New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project, thus successfully completing all major permitting.
The project also marked the start of construction with the commencement of clearing activities and installation of temporary access roads to prepare for the installation of the monopoles that will carry the transmission line. In partnership with Hydro-Quebec, the NECEC will bring clean hydropower from Quebec, Canada, significantly reducing carbon emissions in New England, US.
“From day one, our focus has been on how we can provide cleaner energy for the region along with lower electric rates, jobs and economic stimulus - all while mitigating the project s environmental impact,” said AVANGRID President, Robert Kump. “After 33 months, hundreds of hours of public hearings, thousands of pages of evidence, and a comprehensiv
Sen. Richard Bennett and Rep. Nicole Grohoski: Kick Hydro-Quebec out of Maine’s elections
Hydro-Quebec’s main mission isn’t to save our environment from global warming. In fact, six of its reservoirs are ranked in the top quarter of the world’s biggest carbon emitting hydro facilities. Rather, Hydro-Quebec’s mission is to double profits by 2030, and selling its existing power to New England markets at an inflated rate is a key component of its plan.
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The 130th Maine Legislature was recently sworn in, and already Hydro-Quebec the supplier of energy for the so-called Central Maine Power Corridor powerline project through western Maine has begun its efforts to pit Maine lawmakers against their own constituents, who want to have the opportunity to vote on the controversial project in a statewide referendum.