Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine
The New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission line — also known as the CMP corridor — will be online by the end of the year, in time to supply power to the grid for the winter season, according to a winter energy plan released by ISO New England.
"We're expecting people in New England on some of those colder days to use anywhere between 20 to 21,000 megawatts of power," said ISO NE spokesperson Mary Cate Colapietro. "That's pretty similar to last winter's peak demand day."
The NECEC electricity transmission line will carry 1,200 megawatts of hydropower from Quebec to the New England grid.
The controversial project was first proposed in 2017 and had been rejected by Maine voters at referendum four years ago. But it came back online after Avangrid won a court victory in 2023.
“We have secured every permit, met every regulatory requirement, and overcome significant challenges because we believe we must address the urgent need for reliable energy at a time of rising demand," said Avangrid CEO Jose Antonio Miranda in a statement.
The company has earmarked 50,000 acres in western Maine for permanent conservation easement as part of the project. The plan was approved by the Department of Environmental Protection on Wednesday.
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Art Brigades
It's like New England is adding a nuke plant. High quality baseload power with minimal footprint. NECEC's low profile poles and wires will soon deliver the equivalent energy of 20 sprawling Bingham wind projects, on demand. We should build four more of these HVDC lines from Canada.
yesterday
Dan McKay
We are witnessing a hostile and destructive takeover of an essential core partnership that determines our individual, our family's and our societal welfare. The need for inexpensive electricity can not be overstated. Living without it because it is too expensive or is only available at times determined by the will of government is clearly evil.
I am sure Central Maine Power Company and Versant is very much aware that they are being manipulated and coerced against their wishes to bring electricity to all and at an affordable price. The regulatory agencies are pushing them against a wall. They must do as they are told or face severe penalties while they are chastised by the people they serve because they are being set up by devious people to look like they are intentionally raising prices to obtain enormous profits. The Investor Owned Utilities of Maine didn't ask to become collection agencies to make intermittent energy developers rich or massive government bureaucracies merry by favoring the rich.
But, the government is now demanding these utilities devise their own plans to advance the "Green" Grid and the government will decide if it is good enough for them, and it better be to the liking of the Government or the utilities will be made to look wicked by gaslighting the public.
The government controls the utilities to the extent like no other companies have to endure. Some wonder if these tactics are constitutional. If the Government wants a grid full of solar, wind and batteries, they should ask the people if the people want to build and pay for a competing grid, not do it with a hostile takeover, one additional regulation at a time, that we, the people pay for at one additional rate increase at a time.
What the Maine Government is doing is revolting. Read the 800 comments that people posted on the PUC website about CMP's rate request to strengthen the grid ( case 2025-00218) These people who are at the end of their rope, are brutally aware that continual rate increases must stop and stop now!
yesterday
Penny Gray
I'd like to think this announcement of Quebec hydropower flowing into Maine will stop the insanity of this solar and wind build-out, but it almost seems as if our governing entities are gleefully herding us over the edge of the cliff to satisfy some strange lust for "green power".
9 hours ago