The parent company of Central Maine Power is suing over the constitutionality of a referendum aimed at overturning decisions by three state agencies that approved a utility transmission line in western Maine.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court, contends the Maine Constitution links referendums to legislative acts, not agency decisons. It also contends the referendum violates the state constitution’s separation of powers.
Thorn Dickinson, president and CEO of the New England Clean Energy Connect, said the referendum process allows any decision by a court or agency to be “arbitrarily” overturned after the fact.
“It will create a dangerous precedent that allows special interests to manipulate voters in overturning decisions made by local and state regulators and Maine courts,” Dickinson said in a statement. “This creates uncertainty and threatens individual rights of fairness under the law.”
A strict interpretation of the Maine Constitution could invalidate the referendum, but it’s unclear whether the court would rule on the lawsuit before Mainers cast their votes in November, said Jim Burke, professor emeritus at University of Maine School of Law.
The $1 billion project, which would serve as a conduit for up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower, has been approved by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Land Use Planning Commission and Maine Public Utilities Commission.
But critics of the project obtained enough signatures to put the project to a statewide vote in November.
Sandi Howard of No CMP Corridor decried the lawsuit as an attempt to silence people who oppose the energy corridor. “This is just CMP’s latest stunt to try and keep the people of Maine from having a say over their for-profit corridor project,” she said.
Maine’s referendum process is both celebrated for giving people veto power over policy decisions and criticized for the ease in which referendums can undo those decisions. In this case, critics obtained more than 63,000 signatures to meet the threshold for a statewide vote.
The New England Clean Energy Connect contends out-of-state fossil fuel generators helped fund the referendum.
The Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the Industrial Energy Consumer’s Group are supporting the lawsuit, filed by Avangrid Networks, parent company of Central Maine Power.
“You can’t run a society by referendum,” said Tony Buxton, counsel for the Industrial Energy Consumer’s Group.
The project calls for construction of a 145-mile (233-kilometer) high-voltage power line from Mount Beattie Township on the Canadian border to the regional power grid in Lewiston, Maine. Most of the project would follow existing utility corridors, but a new path would have to be cut through 53 miles (85 kilometers) of wilderness.
Hydro Quebec would supply the energy that supporters say would reduce carbon pollution and stabilize utility rates.
Critics say the environmental benefits are overstated and that the project would spoil part of Maine’s North Woods. They also contend the flood of electricity could stymie smaller renewable energy projects in Maine.
The project was proposed by the state of Massachusetts to meet its clean energy goals. It would be fully funded by Massachusetts ratepayers, but the entire region would benefit, supporters say.
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