<p>"There is <a href="https://www.nrcm.org/blog/why-cmp-corridor-is-bad-deal-maine-climate/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">zero reliable evidence</a> that the project would result in an actual, verifiable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions," said <a href="https://www.nrcm.org/contact/staff-directory/sue-ely/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sue Ely,</a> an attorney for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. "That's right. Zero."</p><p><a href="https://www.iberdrola.com/home" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Iberdrola,</a> a Spanish company that is the third-largest utility in the world, is behind the project. It owns most of the stock in <a href="https://www.avangrid.com/wps/portal/avangrid/aboutus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AVANGRID Inc.,</a> the parent company of <a href="https://www.cmpco.com/wps/portal/cmp/networksfooter/ourcompany" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Central Maine Power Co.,</a> which <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/09/27/2017-20681/application-for-presidential-permit-central-maine-power-company" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">applied</a> for the permit in 2017.</p><h3>Temporary Halt</h3><p>A federal judge issued a <a href="https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2021/01/15/avangrid-maine-massachusetts-power-energy-grid" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">temporary injunction</a> on Jan. 15, the day after Team Trump granted the presidential permit. The Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Council of Maine and the <a href="https://www.outdoors.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Appalachian Mountain Club</a> are in court appealing another permit that was issued for the project by the Army Corps of Engineers.</p><p>The presidential permit may be modified or revoked by the president, now Joe Biden, without notice or by the Dept. of Energy after notice. <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063718535" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Steven Winberg,</a> Trump's acting undersecretary of energy, signed the permit, which was awarded to <a href="https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/as-seen-on-tv/cmps-parent-company-setting-up-separate-company-for-corridor-project/97-9233daf0-2ea4-403b-97b6-013673bcd858" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NECEC Transmission LLC,</a> a new company formed by AVANGRID.</p><p>Massachusetts utilities signed <a href="http://news.hydroquebec.com/en/press-releases/1516/energy-supply-contracts-get-green-light-from-massachusetts-another-important-milestone-for-hydro-quebec-and-lower-carbon-emissions-for-new-england/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">20-year contracts</a> in 2018 to buy 9.45 terawatt-hours a year from Hydro-Québec, Canada's largest utility. Eric Martel, then the CEO of Hydro-Québec, counted on electricity exports such as these to <a href="https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/without-exports-our-profits-are-in-trouble-hydro-quebec-plugs-into-u-s-markets-for-growth" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">double company revenues</a> by 2030 to about $27 billion.</p><p>"Without exports, our <a href="https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/without-exports-our-profits-are-in-trouble-hydro-quebec-plugs-into-u-s-markets-for-growth" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">profits are in trouble,</a>" Martel said in 2018.</p><p>The contracts let Hydro-Québec <a href="http://northeastmegadamresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2018.Oct_.ENERGYZTreportNECECImpacts.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">maximize profits,</a> according to an analysis by <a href="http://www.energyzt.com/about.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Energyzt Adviors LLC</a> for environmental groups. Hydro-Québec could buy low from providers that could include coal from New Brunswick or natural gas from New York to be able to hoard the water behind its <a href="http://www.hydroquebec.com/learning/hydroelectricite/gestion-eau.html#:~:text=Hydro%2DQu%C3%A9bec%20owns%2027%20large,needs%20for%20an%20entire%20year." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">27 reservoirs.</a> The utility could use that water to produce the electricity it sells to Massachusetts as "clean" hydropower.</p><h3>Higher Emissions</h3><p>The net result could actually be higher emissions of greenhouse gases. Energyzt estimated that the project could raise total emissions by the equivalent of <a href="http://northeastmegadamresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2018.Oct_.ENERGYZTreportNECECImpacts.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">80,000 cars a year.</a></p><p><img alt="" src="https://www.dcreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/maine-utility-map.jpg"/>NECEC Transmission LLC plans to build about <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/21/opponents-of-1-billion-cmp-power-line-have-signatures-for-referendum/" target="_blank">53 miles</a> of the 171.4 miles in transmission lines from the Québec border to Lewiston, Maine, crossing 200 rivers, streams and brooks through wilderness in western Maine. Animals such as the American marten and the threatened Canada lynx live in forests on the route, and wild native brook trout are in area streams.</p><p>The Maine project illustrates how the Trump administration swung a regulatory axe with no regard for the environment instead of carefully pruning pathways through forested lands. <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/maine/blog/2019/05/epas-comments-army-corps-public-notice-necec" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Even the Trump EPA,</a> which proved itself no reliable protector of the environment, raised questions about the project.</p><p>Beth Alafat, the EPA's acting chief of the wetlands protection unit, wrote that the Corps should consider putting the transmission lines underground along existing roads or railway corridors.</p><p>Twenty-five Maine towns along the corridor voted against the project or rescinded their previous support. New Hampshire <a href="https://www.nhpr.org/post/after-major-blow-northern-pass-whats-next-hydropower-new-england#stream/0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">blocked</a> an attempt to route the project through that state.</p><p>The Army Corps of Engineers found the project would have no significant impact and issued a permit. The Corps, however, did not prepare a full environmental study for the proposed path through Maine and did not ask for public comment on most of the documents it did prepare.</p>
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