In a recent guest column (May 3), Tom Saviello asked Hydro-Québec to come clean on the benefits of the New England Clean Energy Connect. I offer some fact-checking that demonstrates the economic and environmental benefits of the project.

On the job creation front, it will generate 1,600 new and well-paid jobs for the duration of the project. In addition, the NECEC has awarded more than $300 million in contracts to companies that do business in Maine, and those companies have undertaken to prioritize Maine workers when they start hiring. Nearly all of those jobs will last throughout the two-and-a-half-year construction period, and more than 70% of labor for the construction phase will consist of IBEW Local 104 union workers from Maine.

Saviello reports only partial findings of a London Economics International study. He obviously forgot to mention its main conclusion: NECEC would create economic benefits of up to $33 million annually for Maine’s electricity consumers and boost the state’s economy by $29.1 million during the first 15 years of operation. Furthermore, three MIT researchers (Emil Dimanchev, Joshua Hodge and John Parsons) recently concluded that “adding 4 GW of transmission between New England and Québec is estimated to lower the costs of a zero-emission power system across New England and Québec by 17-28%.”

Saviello is also critical of the fact that, in America, a company developing a project would make a profit. What an astonishing revelation. The most important point is that the project will also benefit Mainers. During these difficult times, the Clean Energy Corridor will bring almost a billion dollars in various benefits to the state and will inject another $250 million directly into the state’s finances.

Another fact: hydropower is much cleaner than natural gas or coal. Based on a life-cycle analysis, net greenhouse gas emissions from Québec hydropower are 50 times lower than electricity generation from natural gas, 70 times lower than emissions from coal, and are on par with wind power. Decades of studies in northern Québec demonstrate that after a few years, our reservoirs do not produce more greenhouse gases than do normal lakes.

In addition, Phelps Turner, a senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, has stated that the Clean Energy Corridor “will allow New England to retire dirty fossil fuel plants in the coming years, which is a win for our health and our climate.”

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The NECEC will bring renewable energy to New England (including Maine), lower electricity bills for Mainers, draw millions in funding and investments to Maine, create 1,600 jobs during the construction of the project and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New England.

Is there any other project in Maine that will offer as much while another state foots the bill?

Serge Abergel, director

Media and External Affairs, Hydro-Québec, Montreal, Canada


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