Dear Friends,
We hope you and your loved ones had a happy and safe holiday season. I’m Thorn Dickinson, President & CEO of New England Clean Energy Connect Transmission, LLC. Though 2020 had its ups and many downs, I wanted to take a moment to look back at what an extraordinary year it was for the Clean Energy Corridor.
In 2020, the Clean Energy Corridor met several significant milestones as we prepare for construction to begin.
Permits
Final permits were granted for the project by the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the Maine Land Use Planning Commission, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Having these permits secured allows us to begin construction on the corridor in Maine. The Presidential permit is the final piece of the puzzle. This will allow construction to cross over the border into Québec. We hope to have this permit in place in the coming weeks.
Positive economic impacts
More than $320 million in contracts in connection with the project were awarded this year. Seven Maine companies split $20 million in timber mat contracts. These mats provide protection to the ground as vehicles travel to and from areas of construction, mitigating impacts on the soil. Other contracts totaling $300 million were awarded to companies building and upgrading the line that will run from Quebec to Lewiston. As promised, qualified Mainers are being given preference to fill the jobs created by the project before all other applicants. Both union and non-union labor will be working on the corridor, with most of the union labor being represented by IBEW Local 104.
Clean energy for Mainers…now with a savings
This past July, Governor Mills signed a deal with Hydro-Quebec that ensures Mainers will reap the benefits of the power generated by the NECEC. Under the agreement, Hydro-Quebec will provide up to 500,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year to Maine. “I have heard people say that the NECEC will deliver power directly to Massachusetts but not to Maine,” Governor Mills said. “With this new commitment, we ensure that Maine consumers access power directly from the line at a discounted price.” Hydro-Quebec also pledged to speed up disbursement of about $170 million in benefits for the state that were already promised in a deal with the state last year, including ratepayer relief and incentives for broadband expansion, electric vehicle charging stations, and heat pump installation.
THE FOSSIL-FUEL FUNDED OPPOSITION MARCHES ON
Despite the landmark positive developments of the past year, the opponents of the NECEC continue their relentless attempts to derail the project, even though every legal hurdle they have created has been rebuffed by the courts. These efforts are funded by out-of-state fossil fuel companies running oil and natural gas plants in Maine, who care more about their market share in Maine and New England than they do about Maine’s environment. It is attacks on the project like these that make your support for the NECEC more critical than ever.
THANK YOU!
All of us working on the New England Clean Energy Connect are incredibly thankful for the continued support of so many Mainers who have offered crucial feedback to us, making what was already a good project even better.
If you would like more information about the project, visit our website www.necleanenergyconnect.org.
Have a safe and happy holiday season as we look forward to more progress for Maine’s environment in 2021!
Take care,
Thorn Dickinson
