Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) is “focused on defeating” next month’s Maine ballot referendum designed to halt construction of the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission line, CEO Dennis Arriola said Wednesday.
Construction is “well underway” with more than 100 poles installed, Arriola said during a third-quarter earnings call, adding that towns in the path received the first tax payment from the project. A “grassroots campaign” is also underway to sway voters in Avangrid’s direction on the referendum.
Avangrid remains encouraged by the support for NECEC over the last several months as the company attempts to combat what it calls “misinformation” spread by “companies that own fossil fuel generation in New England,” he said.
“We’re focused on defeating the Nov. 2 referendum related to the project, and our growing grassroots campaign is working hard every day to help voters better understand the benefits of the project to Mainers, the economy, the environment and the region,” Arriola said.
NECEC supporters include current Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, former Republican Gov. Paul LePage, labor leaders including the AFL–CIO, Maine chambers of commerce and the Conservation Law Foundation, “just to name a few,” Arriola said.
“There are winners and losers” in the clean energy transition, he said.
“In this case, the winners from this project are going to be the people of Maine, the environment, the local economies, climate change [opponents] in total. But the losers in this are going to be those that basically are providing the fossil fuel generation.”
Energy infrastructure projects, including transmission, often face challenges, and “the challenge is that there are certain parties that may not want that because it impacts their livelihood,” Arriola said.
In addition to the referendum, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) held a hearing recently to determine whether it should revoke the permit to construct the NECEC transmission line.
There is no deadline for the decision in the DEP proceeding. Still, the agency can temporarily suspend the construction permit or revoke it entirely, forcing an application 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 Avangrid subsidiary Central Maine Power. Loyzim said the court’s decision represented a change in circumstance that could warrant a permit suspension. (See Maine Regulators Hear from CMP, Residents on NECEC Permit.)
PNM Merger, OSW Talk
Avangrid is “on track” to close its multi-billion dollar merger with PNM Resources by the end of the year, with just one approval remaining from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. Arriola said that 23 of the 24 filing interveners either support the merger directly or have decided not to oppose its approval.
Arriola also touted Vineyard Wind I securing $2.3 billion of construction and term loan financing with nine global lending banks, becoming the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the U.S. to reach financial close. Construction already has started for the onshore substation and export cable routes, and Arriola said offshore construction will begin in the first half of 2022. “We’ll start delivering clean power to Massachusetts in 2023 and reach full commercial operation in 2024.”
Earnings
Avangrid reported earnings of $111 million ($0.29/share), up $24 million from the same period in 2020 ($0.28/share). Avangrid Networks earned $116 million during the quarter, up from $94 million in September 2020. Avangrid Renewables posted earnings of $12 million during the quarter, down from $25 million in September 2020.
For the first nine months of 2021, consolidated net income was $543 million ($1.56/share), compared to $415 million ($1.34/share) for the first three quarters of 2020.
Call transcript courtesy of Seeking Alpha.