"The $1 billion, 145-mile-long transmission line project from Avangrid Inc. had secured permits, survived years of legal challenges, and fulfilled the White House’s national clean energy goals.
On Tuesday, about 60% Maine voters didn’t see what was in it for them and rejected the partially built project.
The voter referendum on Central Maine Power’s New England Clean Energy Connect project dealt a blow to the Biden administration’s push for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector by 2035. And it heaps pressure on federal energy regulators to accelerate their national overhaul of transmission planning, which can be stymied by local opposition in one state.
“This is a major setback, to be sure,” said Rob Gramlich, executive director of the Americans for a Clean Energy Grid and founder and president of Grid Strategies LLC, a Washington-based consulting firm."
Daniel Moore and Tripp Baltz report for Bloomberg Environment November 3, 2021.
SEE ALSO:
"Power Line Vote Challenged In Court; No Halt To Construction" (AP)
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