Maine Department of Environmental Protection Gives Final Approval to the New England Clean Energy Connect
Decision represents another major milestone for the Clean Energy Corridor
AUGUSTA, MAINE – May 8, 2020 – The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) today granted permitting approval to the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC). The decision confirms the project has met or exceeded all environmental standards established by MDEP and that no other alternative routes would be an improvement on the current project design.
“The decision by the MDEP to permit the New England Clean Energy Connect represents another significant step for this project and is the culmination of a rigorous process that began more than two years ago,” said Thorn Dickinson, CEO & President of NECEC Transmission LLC. “We look forward to working with the Commissioner and his staff to meet the conditions outlined.”
As part of the permitting process, local communities and environmental groups provided extensive input, and in the end the MDEP included several additional requirements that must be met by the project. These requirements include narrowing the width of the new section of corridor from 150 feet to 54 feet, preservation of more than 40,000 acres of land, and the allocation of nearly $2 million to replace culverts along or near the project route. The new 53-mile stretch will be maintained with taller full-height or tapered vegetation and no herbicides will be used.
“In our original proposal we worked hard to develop a project that provided robust mitigation measures to protect the environment and through this permitting process, we now have made an exceedingly good project even better for Maine,” added Dickinson. “As a result, Maine gets even more from this project in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, boosting Maine's economy, and lowering energy prices for homes and businesses.”
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 will 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 hydropower, 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 and the region, including lower electricity prices, increased local real estate taxes and reduced energy costs, expanded fiber optic cable for broadband service in Somerset and Franklin counties and funding of economic development for Western Maine.
For more information about the New England Clean Energy Connect, please visit our website at https://www.necleanenergyconnect.org/.
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