KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 11, 2022
The Oct. 6 column from Douglas Rooks about the legal challenges to the NECEC omitted important information (“With NECEC, ‘the law’s delay’ is getting out of hand“). Hydro power has not been consistently proven to be a reliable source of clean energy. Growing scientific evidence has proved that hydropower releases enough methane to make it nearly equivalent to CO2 released by natural gas. The column did not acknowledge the documented environmental damage that would be caused by the NECEC in the Upper Kennebec Valley. As proof, the DEP requires the NECEC to conserve 55,000 acres to offset the environmental damage from the NECEC in the first 53 miles of the transmission corridor. Lastly, the column neglected to mention a competitive alternative to the NECEC. The New England Clean Power Link is a fully permitted replacement for the NECEC that would deliver hydropower to Massachusetts through Vermont. ~ John Nicholas, Winthrop