In a unanimous decision, the Maine Supreme Court ruled on August 30, 2022, that the November 2021 Maine referendum blocking the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) is likely unconstitutional.[1] The NECEC is a $1 billion, 145-mile electric transmission line project that will carry Canadian hydropower through Maine to Massachusetts. Project developer Central Maine Power Co. (CMP), a subsidiary of Avangrid, had to stop construction of the transmission line project after 59% of Maine voters approved a referendum blocking the project in November 2021. The law bans major transmission lines from the area where the project would be built and requires two-thirds legislative approval for projects on state land retroactive to 2014.

In its decision in NECEC Transmission LLC, et al., v. Bureau of Parks and Lands, et al., the court said the ballot violated the developers’ constitutional rights by retroactively imposing new requirements on a permit previously issued by the Maine Public Utilities Commission. If Avangrid can show that it engaged in substantial construction on NECEC before voters approved the ballot, it can move ahead with the project. The Maine Supreme Court remanded the case back to a lower court to decide whether Avangrid meets the conditions for having the right to build the project.

[1] https://law.justia.com/cases/maine/supreme-court/2022/2022-me-48.html