Seventeen years after Northern Pass was first proposed to bring Quebec hydropower to New England via New Hampshire, an alternative through western Maine is about to start working.
The New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line will bring 1,200 megawatts of power from Quebec to Lewiston, Maine, where it will enter the New England grid. Avangrid, part of Iberdrola Group, has secured the final permit for the project and say it plans “energization” by the end of this year.
The permit comes after approval from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for conservation of 50,000 acres of Maine wilderness.
This is the transmission line that was proposed after New Hampshire nixed Northern Pass, which would have brought 1,200 megawatts down through the White Mountains but was scuttled after opposition due to environmental concerns (cutting through the Whites was unpopular) as well as opposition from owners of existing power supplies who didn’t relish the competition.
The Maine proposal faced its own rocky road after a 2021 ballot initiative blocked it, but that was later overturned by courts.
During this period, Trump’s tariff threats against Canada and some issues in Quebec mean the province is selling less electricity south than they used to, but at the same time, the demand for electricity has increased.