AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills on Friday signed proclamations to certify the results of the Nov. 2 election. Maine voters passed all three statewide questions on the ballot.
One of those questions was Question 1, a citizen initiative to ban the construction of the Central Maine Power corridor and require a two-thirds majority vote in the Maine Legislature to approve high-impact electric transmission line projects.
With approximately 60% of the vote, passed Question 1 and rejected the NECEC.
Avangrid Inc., the parent company of Central Maine Power and NECEC Transmission LLC, said it would press forward to build the transmission corridor, in spite of Mainers rejecting the proposal at the polls
Having certified the election results Friday, Mills' office said the governor sent a letter to Thorn Dickinson, CEO and president of New England Clean Energy Connect Transmission LLC, calling on NECEC to voluntarily halt construction of the project.
RELATED: Maine 2021 Election Results
“I support the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project because it will usher in substantial environmental and economic benefits for Maine, including reducing carbon emissions driven by fossil fuels and suppressing increases in electric rates. But more than any single policy or project, I support the rule of law that governs our society and the will of the people that informs it,” Mills wrote in the letter. “While these matters are being considered by the DEP and the Court, I believe CMP should give deference to the will of the voters. On behalf of Maine people, I am asking you to honor their will by immediately halting any further construction on NECEC until the DEP and the Court reach their independent conclusions. 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.”
Mills' full letter to Dickinson
On Thursday, protestors rallied outside the Maine Department of Environmental Protection offices in Augusta in an effort to persuade state agencies to stop the clearing of the new, 53-mile section of corridor in the western Maine forest.
The Maine DEP, however, will first decide whether to suspend the permit for the project, which would presumably result in an immediate halt to construction. The DEP has a hearing on the issue scheduled for Monday evening.
But the Natural Resources Council of Maine and other opponents don’t want to wait, urging the DEP to take immediate action.
“Each day that passes is a nod by CMP to shareholders,” NRCM’s Pete Didisheim told the crowd, “and an insult to Maine people. We have never seen a company behave like this.”
The DEP has actually been considering suspending the project permit since mid-August when a judge ruled the permit for the corridor to cross public lands was invalid.
Opponents at that time called on the agency to suspend the permit, arguing the judge’s ruling represented a significant change of conditions from when the permit was originally approved. The DEP has been studying that issue ever since but has not yet ruled.
Now, opponents contend the referendum vote marks an even bigger change in condition because it will make the project illegal when the new law takes effect sometime next month.
The DEP has promised a decision on both questions by the end of the month. Opponents argued Thursday there should be no question.
“These past two years Mainers refused to stand by and let our state be ravaged to generate profit for someone else,” CMP corridor opponent John Brautigan, an attorney and former state legislator said. “And we won’t stand by now to let those same companies take a chain saw and a bulldozer to our democracy."
For its part, Avangrid is rejecting the opponents’ arguments and standing behind both the project and its efforts to protect it.
"Yesterday, the Public Utilities Commission announced a substantial rate increase in generation costs, citing spiking fossil fuel prices," Avangrid wrote in a statement.
“This is yet another example of why more renewable energy projects, such as the New England Clean Energy Connect are needed. Despite the best efforts of the fossil fuel companies to spread disinformation about the NECEC, this project remains critical in the fight to combat the climate crisis in Maine and New England and is vital to our economic and renewable energy future. This project is fully permitted, and we will continue to advocate for the jobs of hundreds of Mainers while the appeal process plays out."
The next step will be the DEP decision. Then the Maine Business Court is expected to rule on the challenge to the new law sometime in December.
Avangrid is seeking a temporary injunction to block that law from taking effect while its full challenge of the constitutionality of that law can be considered by the court.
