Comment: Maine should welcome clean, reliable, affordable hydroelectric power | Daily News Byte

In the face of recent facts presented by Maine’s foundational institutions – the Maine Court of Law and the Public Utilities Commission – it’s time to rethink the New England Clean Energi Connect, a clean energy corridor.

In August, a unanimous court found it unconstitutional for voters to revoke a PUC permit for a project if the developer “undertook substantial construction pursuant to and in good faith reliance (on)” the permit. That decision will be made by a lower court.

Then, PUC last week accepted bids for standard electricity supply prices for 2023. Taxpayers will face steep increases (34% to 49%) on top of punitive increases of 80% and more this year.

It’s no small thing for the Court of Justice to overturn a majority of voters, but it’s also no small thing for a referendum to overturn five federal and state regulatory approvals. As electricity prices escalate and the legal process unfolds, it is important to look at the adverse climate and energy changes since last November’s referendum.

Devastating war and supply bottlenecks exacerbate energy price spikes and unpredictability, particularly natural gas. And this year’s climate disasters around the world underscore the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Natural gas powers the majority of electricity generation in New England, driving up our electric bills. The average price of natural gas in New England this January was four times higher than a year earlier, leading to an 83% increase in Maine’s energy supply rate. Rates will rise again this winter.

Mainers, like all New Englanders with whom we share the electric grid, will remain vulnerable to price volatility as long as we continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels to power our homes, businesses and transportation.

Last November, Maine short-sightedly rejected a major new source of clean, reliable and affordable electricity: hydropower from neighboring Quebec. By connecting directly into our regional grid, the 1,200-megawatt project would supply customers throughout New England, including Maine, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and vulnerability to spikes in natural gas prices.

Additionally,

• Nonpartisan state evaluators concluded the project would put downward pressure on electricity prices: up to $496 million in cost savings for Maine ratepayers over the 20-year contract.

• Construction of the Clean Energy Corridor would support 1,600 good-paying jobs.

• The hydroelectric plant would eliminate 3 million tons of carbon pollution annually — equivalent to the emissions from 700,000 cars. These climate benefits were independently verified by the US Department of Energy, and the analysis was commissioned by PUC.

• Additional benefits include financing of electric vehicle infrastructure; 50,000 hectares of permanent soil conservation (50 times the project footprint); investment in rural broadband, and additional tax revenues for host communities.

Last April, New York State chose a different path – approving a clean energy project that would deliver 1,250 megawatts of hydropower from Quebec to New York. Hydropower will help New York wean itself off its extreme dependence on fossil fuels. And the project will create thousands of jobs and new income for communities along the transmission corridor.

Why did New York embrace Quebec’s clean hydro while Maine rejected it? In part because the Maine ballot initiative was used by three fossil energy companies that wanted to protect their profits. NextEra Energi, Energi Capital Partners/Calpine, Vistra Energi – all among the nation’s 10 worst carbon polluters – jointly funded 99% of the campaign to stop the New England Clean Energi Connect. Today, their undeveloped wartime profits come at the expense of taxpayers.

Tenants have to dig deep to pay for overpriced, climate-threatening electricity. Worse, our continued reliance on fossil fuels empowers autocrats like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman.

The Maine Court of Justice and the PUC have given us reasons to reconsider. Given everything that’s happened since they voted last November—rising electricity prices, global energy insecurity, and terrifying climate disasters—we hope Mainers will keep an open mind.

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