The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) held a hearing Tuesday to determine whether it should revoke Central Maine Power’s (CMP) permit to construct the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission line in the western part of the state.
There is no deadline for the decision in the DEP proceeding, but the agency has the option to suspend the construction permit temporarily or revoke it entirely, forcing CMP to apply for a new one. DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim opened the proceeding after a Maine Superior Court ruling in August vacated a 1-mile public land lease to CMP. Loyzim said the court’s decision represented a change in circumstance that could warrant a permit suspension.
CMP argued in the hearing that the decision on the land lease should not hold up or halt construction of the entire 145-mile transmission corridor, presenting two alternative routes the company could take to avoid the lease area.
The company also said it is considering running the transmission line underground, which it argued wouldn’t change recreational use of the state public land or potential alternatives.
If the DEP delays the project until an appeal of the court’s ruling is settled, which likely won’t happen until June 2022, it will cost CMP an extra $67 million, said Thorn Dickinson, CEO and president of NECEC Transmission, the affiliate running the hydropower transmission project already under construction.
The utility also has a December 2023 target date for completion of the line, and delays could put negotiated energy benefits for Maine and Massachusetts residents at risk, he said.
Opponents argued that ongoing construction of the transmission line is causing irreparable damage to the jack pine forests of western Maine, while the project could be halted by the legislature or the state land lawsuit.
“Any trees allowed to regenerate in the cleared corridor will be severely limited and will not achieve the middle and older age height diversity needed by wildlife,” said Roger Merchant of Glenburn, Maine, a licensed forester.
The same impacts would occur in the proposed alternative routes, which could take the 90-foot-wide corridor about 90 years to recover, Merchant said.
One alternative route would run through the Moosehead Conservation Easement Area, but Karin Tilberg, president of the Forest Society of Maine, said in an Oct. 19 email to DEP and Dickinson that a power line would not be permitted in the area.
However, supporters of the line argue the transmission line, which would bring renewable hydroelectric energy from Québec to the New England grid, benefits the health and environment of Maine.
“Climate change is the most serious threat to Maine’s environment,” said Tony Buxton, general counsel to the Industrial Energy Consumer’s Group.
A suspension or revocation of the construction permit for the line would be “contrary to the public interest,” Buxton said.
In a virtual public comment session following the hearing, William Frederic of Starks said if CMP halts construction of the line, he will lose his job and “the chance to make a difference to the future of our planet.”
The hearing comes two weeks before Mainers will vote on ballot referendum Question 1, which, if passed, would put the project before the state legislature, requiring two-thirds majority in both houses for the project to proceed.
“There are no climate change benefits from a project that can’t be completed,” said attorney James Kilbreth, representing the Natural Resources Defense Council of Maine. “Voters could decide to stop the project altogether.”