(Montreal) Hydro-Quebec and its partner Central Maine Power have failed to convince the citizens of Maine that the transmission line that must cross this state to reach Boston has advantages for them and for the fight against climate change.
The first results of the referendum organized to oppose the project indicate a fairly clear victory for the opponents. Their option dominated at 60% against 40% for those who are in favor of the project, after the counting of two thirds of the votes.
Hydro-Quebec has not reacted to these results, still preliminary, which jeopardize a 20-year export contract with Massachusetts which should bring it in revenues of 10 billion.
This contract is linked to the construction of a 233-kilometer transmission line that crosses Maine to reach Quebec electricity buyers in Massachusetts.
The interconnection project has generated tremendous opposition from citizens, environmentalists and also businesses that operate natural gas power plants in Maine that stand to lose a lot of money.
At the end of a vigorous referendum campaign, many citizens turned out to vote, especially to vote on the project of Hydro-Quebec and its American partner, Central Maine Power (CMP), responsible for the construction of the line. transport.
Voters interviewed by the daily Portland Press Herald were mostly against the transmission line project. “I don’t like how our energy policy works and I don’t like CMP being tied to foreign companies,” said John Santoro, a 60-year-old citizen, for example.
Another, Timothy Callnan, 70, told the same newspaper that he was simply against cutting down trees.
The rest of the matter remains imprecise. The interconnection project has obtained all required permits and organizations from regulatory authorities, including the presidential permit required to import energy into the United States.
Construction began in January 2020, and Hydro-Quebec’s partner has already spent US $ 400 million to advance the project, the total cost of which is estimated at US $ 1 billion.
Legal remedies are possible, but they would have the effect of further delaying a project that is already two years behind schedule. Massachusetts expects to receive electricity from Quebec at the end of 2022.
The Transmission Line Project Yes and No Committees spent nearly US $ 100 million during the most costly referendum campaign in Maine history. Opponents of the project, financed by competitors of Hydro-Quebec Calpine, Nexterra Energy and Vistra Energy, spent US $ 26 million, while Hydro-Quebec and its US partners spent almost three times as much, or US $ 67 million.
The question submitted to the citizens of Maine asked to ban any power line construction project in the territory, retroactively to 2020, and to require a two-thirds majority of elected officials to accept any future project.
This is the second time that the export contract to Massachusetts has encountered citizen opposition. A first project, known as the Northern Pass, was scrapped after generating much opposition in New Hampshire.