Supporters of the NECEC Argue November Referendum Is Unconstitutional
Arguments highlight that a fully permitted project cannot be rejected retroactively and that doing so would send a chilling effect to businesses considering moving to
NECEC Transmission LLC, and Avangrid Networks urged the Court to look at the referendum as retroactively applied to the NECEC and find it unconstitutional, citing the constitutional protections for vested rights and the bedrock principle of separation of powers as the key arguments.
“This is a clean energy project that will catapult
The referendum also violates the Maine Constitution’s strict separation of powers by giving one branch, the legislature, the power to retroactively invalidate final actions by the executive and judicial branches. Accordingly, when the legislature exercises a power committed to another branch of government, the judiciary is not only permitted but compelled to sit in judgment upon such acts, and to pronounce them invalid.
Supporters of the project agree construction of the corridor will be a benefit to Mainers and that the referendum goes too far. Amicus briefs challenging the constitutionality of the referendum were filed in April by nine parties representing a diverse set of stakeholders - from professors of energy and law, environmentalists, local municipalities, public policy leaders, former Maine Public Utilities Commission members, and
“This project will provide significant benefits to the local
“NECEC will deliver an abundant supply of low-cost renewable energy to the region that will help us meet our carbon reduction goals,” said Maine’s Public Advocate William Harwood. “We will also get more than
Opponents of the project were supported by fossil fuel generators and preyed on the emotions of Mainers to make their case. Fossil fuel generator, NextEra Energy and the country’s largest energy climate polluter Vistra, took the lead opposing the project, challenging the project before multiple regulators (and losing before each) providing more than
“The opposition to this project was never about protecting Maine’s woods for NextEra and other fossil fuel companies. It was about protecting their fossil fuel-driven bottom line,” said Dickinson.
"The energy prices they are charging Mainers this year are almost twice as high as the price for the energy that the NECEC will deliver, and prices, and profits of these fossil fuel companies, are expected to be as high or even higher in 2023.”
The Maine Supreme Court is expected to deliver a decision on the injunction against construction later this summer with a ruling on the overall case to follow.
Separate proceedings were also held today regarding the Bureau of Public Lands lease related to the project where NECEC was joined by the
About NECEC Project: The New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) Clean Energy Corridor is a
The 145-mile transmission line is being built on land owned or controlled by Central Maine Power. The 53 miles of new corridor on working forest land uses a new clearing technique of tapered vegetation; the remaining two-thirds of the project follows existing power lines created for the state’s hydroelectric industry almost a century ago. Prior to the halt of construction in 2021 due to the legal proceedings, 78 of 832 monopoles have been installed and materials for the project’s construction, including poles and wires, are being stored near the construction site and ready for installation should the court decide to lift the injunction on construction.
Construction is expected to be completed and the line in service by the end of 2024. The project will create more than 1,600 good-paying jobs during the two-and-a-half-year construction period, provide
The NECEC will also deliver significant economic benefits to
For more information about the New England Clean Energy Connect, please visit our website at https://www.necleanenergyconnect.org/.
About AVANGRID (AGR): AVANGRID, Inc. (AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in
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Source: AVANGRID, Inc. (AGR)