(Montreal) Hydro-Québec’s partner has stopped work on the Appalaches-Maine line, rejected by referendum two weeks ago, at the request of the state governor.
In favor of the project, Governor Janet Mills asked Hydro-Quebec’s partner to temporarily stop construction of the line, while the courts rule on the validity of a referendum vote against the project.
“If you don’t have to do it at this time, stopping the work on a voluntary basis would send a clear message to the citizens of Maine that you respect their wishes,” she wrote in a letter Friday. I strongly encourage you to do so. ”
New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), the division of Central Power Maine (CMP) that is building the line, made the decision to suspend work after receiving the letter from the Democratic governor. “Hydro-Québec takes note of our partner’s decision to suspend the work, at the request of the governor,” commented spokesperson Lynn St-Laurent.
Voters in Maine rejected the proposed line by 59% in a referendum held on November 2. The 233-kilometer project that would cross the state to bring electricity to Massachusetts would bring in revenues of $ 10 billion over 20 years for the state corporation. It would also reduce greenhouse gases by 3 million metric tonnes, the equivalent of taking 700,000 cars off the road.
Mme Mills believes that the project would bring “substantial” economic and environmental benefits for Maine, in particular by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering electricity rates. “But more than any project, I support the rule of law that governs society and the popular will that guides it,” she wrote in the letter.
The result of the vote does not yet have the force of law, so the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) could legally continue the work, which it did until Friday. Legal proceedings are underway to invalidate the referendum result.
At NECEC and Hydro-Québec, we consider that the referendum is unconstitutional. Work has already started since last winter, while the necessary permits had been obtained. Central Power Maine (CMP) has already spent over US $ 400 million on this US $ 1 billion project.
As work has already started while CMP had the required permits, it can argue in court that it had acquired rights, said Anthony Moffa, professor of environmental law at the University of Maine law school in Portland. . “I cannot predict whether the court will accept this interpretation or not,” he said in an interview conducted before the referendum.
The day after the election, Sophie Brochu, President and CEO of Hydro-Quebec, told Radio-Canada that she was anticipating a legal war to allow the project to go forward. “There, we will send injunctions by the head over the next few weeks, the next months. ”