Maine utility corridor 75% cleared of trees as vote looms

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Workers have cleared trees from three-quarters of a proposed $1 billion power line route ahead of next month's referendum on the conduit for Canadian hydropower to reach the New England grid.

The project is already permitted and construction has been underway for the past nine months, even as supporters and opponents battle ahead of the Nov. 2 vote.

So far, a path has been cut through the woods along 108 of the 145-mile route (175 of 233 kilometers), officials said, including more than half of a new 53-mile (85-kilometer) corridor that stretches from the Canadian border to West Forks.

If Mainers reject the project, it’s going to be difficult to put toothpaste back into the tube. And there will be further litigation.

Anya Fletcher from Environment Maine, which opposes the power line, said it’s unclear how the matter might ultimately play out in the courts. But it’s important for people to vote nonetheless.

“This vote will not be the end of it. But if people vote, then at the very least, Maine people will have spoken,” Fletcher said.

The project, funded by Massachusetts ratepayers to meet that state’s clean energy goals, would supply up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower to the New England power grid.

Supporters say the renewable energy will stabilize or reduce electric rates across New England, while removing 3.6 million metric tons of carbon emissions from the environment each year.

Critics say the project would destroy the character of the woods. They also say environmental gains are overstated and that the project would stymie smaller, homegrown solar and wind power projects.

Construction is allowed to proceed on the entire length of the corridor except for a 1-mile, leased section from the state that’s in dispute.

The Maine Department...