Maine Hits the Brakes on 145-Mile Transmission Project

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November 24, 2021

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by Matthew Choi (Politico’s Morning Energy) Maine Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Melanie Loyzim suspended the permits for the New England Clean Energy Connect, a controversial 145-mile transmission project that would deliver hydropower from Quebec into New England. The suspension of the permits comes after 59 percent of Maine voters rejected the project in a ballot referendum earlier this month.

The permit suspension means that all construction must stop for the $950 million project that was set to come on line in 2023.The suspension order does state that permits can be reinstated if the project prevails in its existing legal challenges, including one that asserts the referendum was unconstitutional. READ MORE

Maine DEP suspends CMP corridor permit: Decision comes after voters approve measure to stop NECEC project (WMTW; includes VIDEO)

KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON: (Politico’s Morning Energy)

An Energy Transition Needs Lots of Power Lines. This 1970s Minnesota Farmers’ Uprising Tried to Block One. What Can it Teach Us? As the country moves toward a massive build-out of transmission lines, a decades-old rebellion offers a way through potential opposition. (Inside Climate News)

Hydro Quebec suspends work in Canada on controversial energy corridor (Maine Public Radio)

Excerpt from Politico’s Morning Energy: KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON: The rapidly evolving resource mix behind the U.S. power grid requires a new approach to ensuring there is enough power supply to meet demand, according to a report released Tuesday by Grid Strategies that was prepared for the American Council on Renewable Energy.

The report lays out nine recommendations for FERC, states and regional grid operators to consider as they assess how to address “resource adequacy” and keep the lights on while the nation transitions to cleaner power, particularly in the wake of rolling blackouts in California and Texas. Providing non-discriminatory capacity values to clean energy resources, increasing regional planning, and avoiding federal policies that undermine state clean energy goals — in particular any repeats of FERC’s controversial minimum offer price rule expansion — are among the strategies the report advocates for.

The issue is top of mind for FERC, which is reassessing resource adequacy as power producers develop new sources of electricity generation, and as the grid faces new stresses caused by extreme weather events across the country. “We all need reliability to be achieved … to continue this rapid march towards cleaner and cleaner energy,” said Rob Gramlich, author of the report and founder and president of Grid Strategies, during a webinar hosted by ACORE Tuesday. READ MORE

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