Hydro-Québec scores legal victory in Maine over $1B US transmission line project

Hydro-Québec has scored an important legal victory in a courtroom south of the border to allow its $1-billion US transmission-line project in Maine to go ahead.

The transmission line, which would span 336 kilometres between Quebec and Maine, is a pivotal part of the provincial utility's plan to sell hydroelectricity to the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

On Thursday, Maine Superior Court ruled in favour of Hydro-Québec and its U.S. partners. According to local media reports, the court found that the project already had the necessary permits prior to being rejected by 59 per cent of voters in a referendum in November 2021. Work was suspended a few weeks later.

Last August, the Maine Supreme Court ruled that referendum was unconstitutional. It also sent the case back to the Superior Court level in order to have a ruling on the issue of permits.

Hydro-Québec's partner in Maine, NECEC, has already spent nearly $450 million US on the project, which is about 43 per cent of the total projected cost, according to documents presented in court.

If the project were abandoned, Hydro-Québec estimates that it would lose nearly $530 million on top of potentially losing $10 billion in revenue over 20 years.

The utility also claimed it had spent an additional $160 million as of the end of last year in connection with agreements it has struck in connection with the project.

The utility has said that the deal with the state of Massachusetts would reduce greenhouse gases by three million tonnes, the equivalent of taking 700,000 cars off the road.

"We are satisfied with the ruling. This was our biggest legal obstacle to the project," said Lynn St-Laurent, a spokesperson for Hydro-Québec.

Hydro-Québec had initially hoped for the transmission line to be up and running by December 2022, but the legal wrangling caused significant delays.

St-Laurent said it's too early to know when work can resume and when the project will be completed, especially since there is a possibility that Thursday's ruling will be appealed.