$1B hydropower project’s fate rests with Maine supreme court | The Journal Record

PORTLAND, Maine – Proponents in Maine of a stalled $1 billion power hall that sought to carry Canadian hydropower to the New England energy grid requested the state’s excessive courtroom to breathe new life into the venture Tuesday.

Attorneys for builders argued {that a} referendum through which voters rejected the venture had the impact of retroactively overturning builders’ vested rights – and violating the constitutional separation of powers.

“The credibility of the state of Maine is at stake on this case,” stated John Aromando, legal professional for the New England Clear Vitality Join.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court docket was requested to weigh in on two separate lawsuits involving the high-profile venture.

Builders are looking for to declare the November referendum unconstitutional. One other lawsuit focuses on a lease permitting transmission traces to cross a brief section of state land.

Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill, noting the packed courtroom, acknowledged that there’s a excessive degree of curiosity within the case. She stated a written resolution will probably be issued “as quickly as we will.”

“Clearly we’re addressing solely the authorized points – not the propriety or knowledge of the venture,” she stated.

Funded by Massachusetts ratepayers, the New England Clear Vitality Join would provide as much as 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower. That’s sufficient electrical energy for 1 million houses.

Critics contend the environmental advantages are overstated, and that the venture would destroy woodlands in western Maine.

Supporters say daring initiatives are essential to battle local weather change and that the electrical energy, though earmarked for Massachusetts ratepayers, would assist a whole area that’s closely reliant on pure fuel, which might trigger spikes in power prices within the winter.

A lot of the proposed 145-mile energy transmission line can be constructed alongside current corridors, however a brand new 53-mile part is required to achieve the Canadian border.

Central Maine Energy’s guardian firm and Hydro Quebec teamed up on the venture, and employees have been already clearing bushes and setting poles when the governor requested for work to be suspended after Mainers voiced their disapproval. The Maine Division of Environmental Safety later suspended its allow however that call might be reversed relying on the end result earlier than the state’s Supreme Court docket.

The utilities contend the referendum was unconstitutional as a result of it retroactively put the brakes on a venture that was correctly permitted by the Maine Land Use Planning Fee, Maine Public Utilities Fee and U.S. Military Corps of Engineers, along with the Maine Division of Environmental Safety.

Aromando put the case in stark phrases, noting that the venture was “declared to be lawful, helpful and certainly important financial growth to fight the existential risk of local weather change.”

The lease concern centered on a stretch of the hall over 32 acres of state land. A lawsuit contended the Bureau of Parks and Lands ought to have sought a two-thirds legislative approval for the lease.

At one level, Nolan Reichl, legal professional for CMP and the venture, stated the Bureau of Parks and Lands dealt with “lots of if not thousand of leases” in the identical method.

The chief justice interrupted him.

“Perhaps they’ve achieved it lots of of 1000’s of time unsuitable,” Stanfill stated.