PPH - Defense rests on day 6 of trial over fate of CMP corridor

April 18, 2023

BY TUX TURKEL STAFF WRITER

EXCERPTS

The landmark trial that could decide the fate of the $1 billion New England Clean Energy Connect power line moved closer to a climax on Tuesday after the defense rested its case. Closing arguments are scheduled for Wednesday, followed by an anticipated verdict from the nine-member jury.

The jury on Tuesday heard from the trial’s final three witnesses. Hammering away at a common theme, defense attorneys asked questions aimed to establish a link between the project’s accelerated construction schedule and efforts by NECEC executives to gain vested rights for the project, which is backed by Central Maine Power. Those rights would allow NECEC to legally proceed with the project despite a 2021 law aimed at killing it............

.............But during cross examination, one of Avangrid’s attorneys, Jeffrey Russell, sought to put these correspondences in a different context.

He produced documents from late 2020 to show Cianbro was aware that NECEC might be asking for an earlier start date. The statements about not being productive reflected Franceschi’s frustration with having to change plans and work out of sequence....................

....................The presence of NextEra and Hydro-Quebec opened a window to a side issue that has had little visibility during the six-day trial, but is significant. Both companies have much at stake in the outcome, but for different reasons.

NextEra is a Florida-based utility company that now owns the Seabrook nuclear plant and would be hurt by the use of less-expensive Canadian power from NECEC. H.Q. Energy Services, the American arm of Hydro-Quebec, is eager to supply the power and earn a hefty profit. NextEra spent roughly $20 million to help project opponents prevail in the campaign to pass Question 1, the 2021 referendum. Hydro-Quebec spent roughly $10 million in the failed attempt to defeat the ballot initiative.

The NECEC project would have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, enough power for 1.2 million homes. Paid for by Massachusetts utility customers, the power line would help lower electricity prices in New England by introducing a new source of round-the-clock hydroelectricity from Quebec, according to the Maine Public Utilities Commission. The agency granted the initial go-ahead permit in 2019.

https://www.pressherald.com/2023/04/18/defense-rests-on-day-6-of-tr...

Defense expected to call final witnesses in trial over western Maine power corridor

Maine Public | By Steve Mistler
Published April 18, 2023 at 6:41 AM EDT

The jury trial that could revive a $1 billion transmission project through western Maine resumes Tuesday as the Maine Public Utilities Commission resumes its defense against Central Maine Power's parent company.

Avangrid, the owner of the New England Clean Energy Connect, is attempting to convince the nine members of the jury that it spent and constructed enough to make a vested rights claim that could invalidate voters' decision to halt the project in 2021.

Attorneys for the PUC and intervenors for the defense have attempted to establish that project developers rushed construction to make that vested rights claim in anticipation of the referendum.

They have called witnesses associated with the project who were not used by the plaintiffs.

The defense is expected to complete its case Tuesday, setting up closing arguments Wednesday.

Jurors will then receive specific instructions from Judge Michael Duddy as to what they should consider before making their ruling.

https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2023-04-18/defense...

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Comment by Dan McKay on April 19, 2023 at 4:48pm

Lower our rates. Build NECEC

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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