Static for the moment, Hydro-Québec’s project to bring hydroelectricity to New England is far from dead, according to the president and CEO of the state-owned company, Sophie Brochu.
Despite the setback that Maine imposed on Hydro by blocking the passage of a high-voltage line through its territory by referendum, Mme Brochu still has hope of seeing the project succeed. “I don’t know the future, but I think a line [supplémentaire] to go to the American Northeast will end up making sense in the eyes of everyone, ”she said on Tuesday, during the study of the budgetary appropriations linked to the state-owned company.
“There’s a line that’s been built, and I think there’s a line that’s going to be built. They [en] need too much, ”she continued.
Last November, Maine voters voted 60% against a power line crossing their land. The decision put grains of sand in the gears of Hydro-Quebec, which was counting on a favorable result to concretize a contract of 10 billion dollars with six states of the American Northeast. Since then, the work started by the government corporation on Quebec territory has been slowed down. Hydro’s American partner, the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), has put its own on hold.
Hydro-Quebec has been scrambling since the announcement of the referendum results to reverse the decision. She is also challenging the decision in the Supreme Court of Maine. The pleadings surrounding this case should begin this month.
Sophie Brochu believes that she faced “extraordinarily powerful” lobbies in the referendum game in Maine. “I can’t assume the Supreme Court’s decision. Time passes. There are people in Massachusetts waiting for the juice,” she said Tuesday.
“There is no plan B” at the moment, she said, adding that she was awaiting a decision from the courts this fall.
“Green Battery”
In Quebec either, hope has not faded. When he learned of the result of the referendum last year, Prime Minister François Legault said he was “confident” of seeing a happy ending. The elected Caquiste is counting on this power line to materialize his plans for a “green battery in the American Northeast”.
In November, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonatan Julien, indicated that “legally, we think we are in the right place”. “We obtained the authorizations, both the presidential authorizations, both those of the Department of Energy, he listed. We intend to follow up on the project. »
Despite its referendum defeat, Hydro-Québec won a victory last month by obtaining authorization from the New York Public Utilities Commission to begin work on its project to transfer electricity to New York State. . The contract concluded at the end of last year should allow the state company to deliver energy to New Yorkers for 25 years. Hydro expects to earn $30 billion in revenue during this period.