We learned late last month that the trial in the latest phase of the lawsuit over the stalled hydropower corridor will not take place until April – eight months after the Maine Supreme Judicial Court sent it back to a lower court.
The lower court’s decision might take another several months thereafter. In the face of Maine’s growing climate crisis and energy vulnerabilities, this threatens a further unacceptable delay in a sorely needed and time-sensitive project that is due to be operational in August 2024.
In August, the Maine supreme court, having heard all the evidence and arguments, asked itself whether certain sections of last November’s ballot initiative to block the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission corridor violate the Maine Constitution.
Would the ballot initiative violate the state constitution, the court asked, if – before the initiative was enacted…
Insight: Defeat by delay: A tale of clean energy and dirty money
