So, here we are. The people have spoken, and they have rejected the CMP transmission corridor.
Or at least they tried.
There’s so much background. There are so many untruths and lies, exaggerations and hyperbole. It’s difficult to have an opinion grounded on fact, as the representatives of each side changed the facts all around.
On the one hand, we shouldn’t fear a corridor to carry clean energy to Massachusetts; after all, we get a share and a cut - albeit small. And we have cut corridors through Maine before - the Maine Turnpike being a prime example. That corridor runs the full length of the state and almost 90% of the states population lives within 50 miles of that corridor. Talk about a corridor! But times were different then.
On the other hand, I heard and read reports that the CMP corridor, for all it’s supposed to reduced pollutants, does not in fact ever generate new power - that what is really happening is that Hydro-Quebec is simply re-routing electricity to a better paying market. That’s duplicitous.
So, there may be no truth.
But there is one fact. The people of Maine said “No.” And they said it strongly.
At this point, the construction should stop.
The question should not be - “How can we continue to build until this is figured out?”
The question must be - “How can we figure this out?”
Avantgrid is treating Maine like an occupied territory.
The message was clear. The message was decisive.