MAINE PUBLIC • April 13, 2023
Day four of the jury trial that could determine the fate of the $1 billion transmission project through western Maine continued with attorneys for Central Maine Power's parent company trying to establish that construction was beset by delays beyond its control. But attorneys for the defense homed in on a flurry of activity in the days right before the certification of the 2021 referendum that ultimately stalled the project. There's supposed to be nearly 800 poles along the 145-mile route of the New England Clean Energy Connect, the project owned by CMP parent, Avangrid, and the plaintiff in a trial that could revive the project. But by Nov. 2, 2021 — the day Maine voters halted the NECEC — only 70 transmission poles had been installed.