When Maine regulators first approved the New England Clean Energy Connect corridor that will carry hydropower from Quebec into Massachusetts, conservationists won a key concession from the project.
The developers were required to permanently conserve 50,000 acres in the area of the corridor, which will go through western Maine. That’s an area larger than Acadia National Park, and more than half the size of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The power line can not begin commercial operation until the conservation deal is pinned down.
Now, some observers say project developer Central Maine Power appears to be behind on meeting this commitment.
“We’re really curious and interested and concerned,” said State Sen. Stacy Brenner, a Democrat from Scarborough who chairs the Environment and Natural Resources Committee. “We don’t want this to get forgotten about.”
But CMP, which is finally in the middle of building the 145-mile power line after years of costly delays and legal fights, says it’s on schedule to meet the commitment in time to get it running by the end of 2025.
Whether CMP can follow through on that commitment matters a great deal to both the project and to Maine residents. Beyond the fact that the company must conserve the land before it can flip the switch on the corridor, fulfilling that commitment is also meant to offset some of the environmental damage that its many critics have argued it will do to the woods and wildlife of western Maine.
The $1.5 billion power line is designed to help Massachusetts meet its climate goals. The project was rejected by Maine voters at referendum in 2021, but revived by a state court in 2023. The most controversial aspect is known as Segment 1, which cuts through the Maine woods for 53 miles from the Quebec border west of Jackman to The Forks along the Kennebec River.
To mitigate the habitat fragmentation caused by the power line, state regulators want the 50,000 acres of permanently conserved lands to be in blocks of 5,000 acres or more, or be adjacent to existing conservation land. And the land should have high conservation values, like wading bird and waterfowl habitat, deer wintering areas, and vernal pools, as well as habitat for species like Atlantic salmon, brook trout, and Canada lynx.
The developers submitted a conservation plan in November 2021, but the Maine Department of Environmental Protection found it insufficiently detailed. In the three years since, they have told DEP that they’re negotiating with landowners, but have not filed additional information for review. Meanwhile, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection increased the conservation requirement from 40,000 acres to 50,000 acres.
In September, Brenner and several other legislators and conservationists wrote DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim expressing their concerns.
“Specifically, we are concerned that insufficient progress has been made by CMP/NECEC LLC to meet both the spirit and the letter of this critical permit condition, even as construction of the project and disruption of wildlife habitat proceeds apace,” they wrote.
They also asked for assurance that CMP would not just be allowed to write a check to the Land for Maine’s Future program — the state’s main method of funding land conservation projects — to meet its obligation.
Commissioner Loyzim replied that CMP can not just buy its way out of this obligation. “It would be necessary for NECEC to apply for a modification of the Orders if NECEC wishes to simply contribute funds to LMF for the conservation of 50,000 acres in the area of Segment 1 prior to commencing commercial operation,” Loyzim wrote in an October letter.
And Loyzim confirmed that any conservation plan must pass muster with DEP regulators.
“A written supplement of NECEC’s previously-submitted but insufficient Conservation Plan must be filed with the Department before it can finally act on and either approve or deny any Conservation Plan,” the commissioner wrote. “The content of any such supplemental filing by NECEC will affect the Department’s review and final action on the proposed Conservation Plan, which will in turn affect NECEC’s ability to implement any approved Conservation Plan and commence commercial operation of its project.”
CMP spokesperson Jonathan Breed said it is continuing its work on the conservation plan, and is not missing any deadlines.
“The NECEC submitted its initial conservation plan as required in November 2021, and work on the required plan has since progressed (for example, the entire land requirement changed from 40,000 to 50,000 acres in mid-2022, after the initial conservation plan was submitted),” Breed said in an email. “Importantly, the permit ultimately requires the plan to be approved by MDEP, and implemented, prior to the NECEC’s commercial operation date.”
Breed says CMP is on track to implement a plan in time to have the power line operating by the end of 2025.
Jake Metzler of the Forest Society of Maine says this won’t be easy. “These are very specific permit conditions, and finding the right combination of landowner and conservation holder could be tricky,” he said.
The Forest Society of Maine has a lot of conservation land in the area of the power corridor, through both ownership and easement, and Metzler says it had been working with CMP on a possible conservation project, but is not currently.
“These projects don’t just come together with the snap of a finger.” Metzler said. “If they’re not far along, it seems like it is getting very tight to meet the timeline that they are working on.”
