CMP corridor project could begin construction in weeks, after getting Army Corps OK

File image A rendering from earlier this year of the 150-foot-wide proposed CMP transmission corridor, looking south from the observation tower at the summit of Coburn Mountain to the west side of Johnson Mountain.

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By William Hall

The controversial plan to build a $1 billion electricity transmission line through western Maine has received a critical green light from the federal government, and construction on the project could begin in a few weeks.

Not so fast, says a group of opponents to the plan.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit for the proposed 145-mile New England Clean Energy Connect corridor, according to a news release Wednesday from Avangrid Inc. (NYSE: AGR), the project’s backer and the parent company of Central Maine Power Co.

If built as planned, NECEC would deliver 1,200 megawatts of renewable energy generated by Hydro-Quebec to Massachusetts. The corridor would enter Maine in Beattie Township, in Franklin County on the Quebec border, and run to a new converter station in Lewiston.

The Army Corps is charged by Congress to oversee a variety of domestic civil works projects, and approved the NECEC corridor after conducting what the corps calls an Environmental Assessment.

“The Army Corps permit is a significant milestone because it clears the way for construction to begin in the coming weeks,” Avangrid President, Robert Kump said in the release. “We are excited to start construction on this critical renewable energy project so we can begin to deliver the numerous benefits of NECEC.”

The project will create more than 1,600 jobs during its two years of construction, according to the Connecticut-based company. It also has announced $300 million in contracts for the project, and has said NECEC will ultimately inject more than $570 million into the Maine economy.

The plan previously received approvals from the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the Maine Land Use Planning Commission, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Municipal-level permitting is still required, however, and NECEC must obtain a Presidential Permit from the U.S. Department of Energy in order to construct the cross-border transmission line into Quebec.

In response to the Army Corps permit, opposition group Say No to NECEC issued a statement Wednesday claiming the corps wasn’t stringent enough in its review.

Similar Canada-to-Massachusetts transmission projects in New Hampshire and Vermont each underwent a more comprehensive analysis, leading to an Environmental Impact Statement from the corps, the group said.

“The Army Corps decision to not thoroughly study the impact of CMP’s corridor followed by issuing a permit for the dirty energy project is dangerous,” said the group's director, Sandi Howard.

“The full scope of this project’s environmental impacts has not been revealed by the Army Corps review process, which is why the story is not over about this permit … Our allied partners filed a federal lawsuit regarding the Army Corps review of this project because it’s clear that the corridor will have significant negative environmental impacts.”

Last week, the group received approval to begin a citizens petition that could lead to a referendum potentially blocking the project. An earlier attempt to create a referendum overturning the PUC's approval was ruled in August to be unconstitutional.