On day 5 of corridor jury trial, attorneys for CMP's parent company rest their case

On day 5 of corridor jury trial, attorneys for CMP's parent company rest their case

CMP corridor construction
Brian Bechard
/
Maine Public
Construction has started on Central Maine Power's corridor that is meant to carry hydroelectric power from Quebec through Maine to Massachusetts, although the project still faces numerous legal and other challenges.

Attorneys for Central Maine Power's parent company Friday rested their case in a jury trial that could revive the company's $1 billion transmission project after voters halted it in 2021. The plaintiffs ended with a pair of witnesses intended to bolster the case against the referendum, but who were also questioned by defense attorneys about getting paid for their analysis.

Attorneys for Avangrid, the plaintiff in the case and owner of the New England of the Clean Energy Connect project, attempted to solidify two key claims.

The first is that project developers spent and constructed enough to make a vested rights claim that could overturn the referendum. The second is to demonstrate to jurors that developers didn't rush construction for the sole purpose of making that vested rights claim.

They ended their case by calling two witnesses for FTI Consulting, a firm hired by plaintiffs to provide their analysis.

One of FTI's consultants, David Berkowitz, testified that developers never expedited their work schedule to beat the 2021 referendum because they were always behind due to permitting delays and construction and legal challenges.

That assessment was challenged by assistant attorney general Sarah Coleman, who is defending the Public Utilities Commission in the case.

She countered that under Berkowtiz's definition, no project could be expedited if it fell behind its original schedule, and she also highlighted the amount of money FTI has been paid since plaintiffs challenged the referendum in 2021.

."So, FTI has been paid about a half-million dollars for its work on this case," Coleman asked.

"All I know is FTI has billed a half-million dollars as of this invoice," Berkowitz replied.

The defense began its case Friday afternoon and is expected to finish Tuesday.

Final arguments are scheduled for Wednesday.

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

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(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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