Current:Home > FinanceMassachusetts budget approval allows utilities to recoup added cost of hydropower corridor-LoTradeCoin
Massachusetts budget approval allows utilities to recoup added cost of hydropower corridor
View Date:2024-12-24 00:46:15
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A budget signed by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey this week will allow utilities to raise rates to make up for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs to complete a transmission line to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England electricity grid.
The head of Central Maine Power Co.'s corporate parent Avangrid has said the cost of the $1 billion project grew to $1.5 billion as litigation delayed construction and inflation caused prices to creep upward.
Legislation included the supplemental budget adopted Monday allows transmission service agreements to be renegotiated and additional costs to be passed along to Massachusetts ratepayers to cover the added costs.
Avangrid provided the increased costs to Massachusetts’ electricity distribution companies to adjust the rate in the parties’ transmission services agreements, which would be subject to Department of Public Utilities review and approval, Avangrid spokesperson Leo Rosales said in a statement Tuesday.
He praised Healey and lawmakers for taking action to “deliver this critical project and needed clean power to benefit the entire New England region.”
Avangrid partnered with Hydro-Quebec on the New England Clean Energy Connect to supply 1,200 megawatts of hydropower to meet green energy goals in Massachusetts. That would be enough electricity to power about a million homes.
The 145-mile (233-kilometer) transmission line will stretch from Lewiston, Maine, to the Canadian border.
It received all regulatory approvals but was plagued by delays, litigation and a referendum in which https://apnews.com/article/election-2021-maine-hydropower-line-54dea1a948e9fc57a667280707cddeb7
It was allowed to move forward after a Maine jury concluded that the developers had a constitutional right to proceed despite the referendum.
Construction resumed in August on a transmission hub that’s critical to the project in Lewiston. But it’s unclear when other work will restart.
Workers had already begun removing trees and setting utility poles on a disputed portion of the project, a new 53-mile (85-kilometer) section cut through the woods in western Maine, before the project was put on hold.
The project was envisioned to meet Massachusetts’ clean energy goals, and the cost is fully borne by ratepayers in that state.
However, supporters say electricity would lower energy costs across New England as well as reduce carbon pollution.
veryGood! (6654)
Related
- Ben Affleck and His Son Samuel, 12, Enjoy a Rare Night Out Together
- Utah district bans Bible in elementary and middle schools after complaint calls it sex-ridden
- Tennessee woman accused of trying to hire hitman to kill wife of man she met on Match.com
- Breaking Down the British Line of Succession Ahead of King Charles III's Coronation
- Watch as dust storm that caused 20-car pileup whips through central California
- Today’s Climate: May 29-30, 2010
- Tourists at Yellowstone picked up a baby elk and drove it in their car, officials say
- Mothers tell how Pakistan's monsoon floods have upended their lives
- Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Lemon quit X, formerly Twitter: 'Time for me to leave'
- Arctic Sea Ice Hits Record Lows Off Alaska
Ranking
- Chris Wallace will leave CNN 3 years after defecting from 'Fox News Sunday'
- A 1931 law criminalizing abortion in Michigan is unconstitutional, a judge rules
- Arctic Report Card: Lowest Sea Ice on Record, 2nd Warmest Year
- The Barbie movie used so much pink paint it caused a shortage
- Why Outer Banks Fans Think Costars Rudy Pankow and Madison Bailey Used Stunt Doubles Amid Rumored Rift
- The government will no longer be sending free COVID-19 tests to Americans
- 2016’s Record Heat Not Possible Without Global Warming, Study Says
- You'll Never Believe Bridgerton's Connection to King Charles III's Coronation
Recommendation
-
Stock market today: Asian shares mostly decline, shrugging off Wall Street’s overnight rally
-
Avoiding the tap water in Jackson, Miss., has been a way of life for decades
-
Today’s Climate: May 29-30, 2010
-
EPA Science Advisers Push Back on Wheeler, Say He’s Minimizing Their Role
-
SNL's Chloe Fineman Says Rude Elon Musk Made Her Burst Into Tears as Show Host
-
States Begin to Comply with Clean Power Plan, Even While Planning to Sue
-
Whatever happened to the new no-patent COVID vaccine touted as a global game changer?
-
Hunger advocates want free school meals for all kids. It's tough sell in Congress