Cianbro-Irby, NCI and Sargent Electric Awarded $300 Million in Contracts to Build and Upgrade Transmission and Provide Land Clearing for the New England Clean Energy Connect
Project will create more than 1,600 direct jobs annually during construction with preference for Maine workers
AUGUSTA, MAINE – April 8, 2020 – The New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) today announced it has awarded more than $300 million in contracts to Maine-based Cianbro in a joint venture with Irby Construction, Sargent Electric, and Northern Clearing, Inc. (NCI) to build and upgrade transmission and provide land clearing for the project. Sargent Electric and NCI have significant employee presence in Maine and are IBEW Local 104 contractors. The companies will subcontract work to other Maine-based suppliers, contractors and consultants with preference for hiring Maine workers when possible.
“The clean energy corridor will bring jobs and significant economic benefits to Maine,” said Thorn Dickinson, President & CEO of NECEC LLC Transmission. “In addition to the 1,600 jobs that will be created annually during construction, the project will indirectly support employment in local businesses in towns from Jackman to Lewiston. The clean energy corridor is projected to inject more than $570 million into Maine’s economy and these contracts represent $300 million that is going to Maine companies to deliver high quality jobs for Mainers.”
Cianbro, Maine’s largest general contractor, in a joint venture with transmission construction company Irby Construction, will construct the new, high voltage DC transmission line that will run 145 miles from the Canadian border to a substation in Lewiston, Maine. Sargent Electric will perform transmission line upgrades required for the project, specifically on a segment from Wiscasset to Windsor and others in the Lewiston-Auburn area. NCI will provide all clearing and access road improvement work.
“This is a significant contract for our company and our state. We are eager to put Maine people to work on this important project that brings both clean energy and economic benefits to the State,” said Andi Vigue, President and CEO at Cianbro.
Cianbro-Irby teamed up similarly to construct the $1.4 billion Maine Power Reliability Project which was completed in 2015 on time and under budget. As part of this contract, they expect to hire 260 employees.
“This project gives us the opportunity to expand our work in Maine which has spanned over a decade. The contract will significantly increase our presence here from our current several dozen employees to as many as 350 so we can take on this work,” said Shawn Mitchell, East Coast Regional Manager at NCI.
“We are absolutely ready to play a critical part in this important investment in Maine’s electrical grid,” said Joe Ebersbach, Vice President of Sargent Electric’s Utility Division. “We can’t wait to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”
Sargent Electric and NCI are both signatory IBEW Local 104 contractors; all labor required for their work will come from the IBEW Local 104.
“More than 70 percent of the workers will be IBEW 104 members. The NECEC will create several years’ worth of steady work for our members at a time when it looks like we’ll need it most,” said Tim Burgess, Assistant Business Manager, IBEW Local 104. “I can’t tell you how important that is right now given the sudden economic climate we are in.”
To date, the NECEC has received permits from a number of State agencies and additional permits required to begin construction are expected in the second quarter of 2020. Construction is expected to be completed in 2022.
For more information about the New England Clean Energy Connect, please visit our website at https://www.necleanenergyconnect.org/.
ABOUT THE NECEC PROJECT
The New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) is a $950 million investment that will deliver 1,200 megawatts of renewable hydropower to the New England energy grid in Lewiston, Maine. All the costs will be paid for by Massachusetts electric customers. Once built, the NECEC would be New England’s largest source of renewable energy, representing a fundamental shift away from fossil fuels while simultaneously lowering energy costs in Maine and New England.
The 145-mile transmission line will be built on land owned or controlled by Central Maine Power. The 53 miles of new corridor on working forest land will use 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. Construction will begin as soon as final environmental permits are received, expected in the second quarter of 2020, with the construction completed and the line in service by December 2022.
The project will create more than 1,600 good-paying jobs during the two-and-a-half-year construction period, provide $200 million in upgrades to Maine’s energy grid, making Maine’s electricity service more reliable. The NECEC will allow more producers of renewable energy here in Maine to get their energy on the grid, and because the corridor project will use clean hydro power, it will reduce the use of fossil fuels, cutting three million metric tons of dirty emissions each year.
The NECEC will also deliver significant economic benefits to Maine in the region, including lower electricity prices, increased local real estate taxes and reduced energy costs, as well as benefits like expanded fiber optic cable for broadband service in Somerset and Franklin counties, and funding of economic development for Western Maine.
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