BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 22, 2022
The developers of a $1 billion hydropower corridor running from the Canadian border through western Maine will be able to keep access to a key permit if they prevail in two court challenges. The permit over public lands was first granted by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to the New England Clean Energy Connect project but suspended by that organization last November. But the Board of Environmental Protection, tasked with enforcing laws, on Thursday denied appeals to the permit. The second involves an ongoing court case challenging a referendum that stopped construction of the corridor. If Maine’s high court ultimately rules the referendum unconstitutional, then construction would have to resume within two years for the permit to remain valid.