Question Period Note: New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC): after November 2 referendum defeat, project construction suspended

Maine Governor requested NECEC suspend construction following November 2 referendum result that cancelled the project. NECEC has agreed to temporarily halt work while legal appeal are taking place.

• Canada strongly supports New England Clean Energy Connect.
• Canada continues to work closely with Quebec to promote clean energy export.
• Hydro Quebec and Central Maine Power have launched legal challenges to the referendum result.
• We cannot meet energy needs and fight climate change without transmission infrastructure.

NECEC is a consequential cross-border infrastructure project for Quebec and Canada. It will provide clean, renewable, firm (24/7) and low-cost power to Massachusetts, and some to Maine. Hydro Quebec's 20-year multibillion-dollar contract with Massachusetts represents a major addition to Canada's clean energy export trade, helps Massachusetts, Maine and New England achieve emission reduction goals to fight climate change and strengthens bilateral energy security and reliability.

Canada's Consulate General in Boston and Quebec Government office in Boston have worked closely together since 2013 in the common goal to support hydro export to New England, and the NECEC project.

On November 2, in a statewide referendum, Maine voters retroactively rejected NECEC. This, in spite of the fact that NECEC has all state and federal permits in place. Pre-construction and construction activities started in 2021, with completion scheduled for mid-2023. NECEC's proponents, Central Maine Power (CMP) and Hydro Quebec (HQ), filed motions with the Maine Superior Court to invalidate the referendum as illegal and unconstitutional. The opposition is also going to court to file for an immediate halt to construction.

On November 19, Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed a proclamation Certifying the referendum results, Governor Mills, who has supported NECEC, asked CMP stop all work while the matter is resolved in the courts. CMP agreed and has voluntarily halted work on the NECEC project until Maine's business court rules on its motion for a preliminary injunction.

NECEC is a 1200 MW transmission line, a partnership of HQ and CMP. It is located entirely within Maine. The NECEC line will run 145 miles from the Quebec-Maine border to a sub-station at Lewiston in southern Maine, connecting from there to Massachusetts through the existing grid. The first section in Maine, running 53 miles from the Quebec border, represents a new corridor which requires clear-cutting in a commercial logging area, with the rest of the corridor following existing rights-of-way controlled by CMP.

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