#NewHampshire said "No!" to #HydroQuebec #Massachusetts scheme!

Massachusetts to continue talks with #HydroQuébec for #NorthernPass project
Historic $680M electricity project was 1st approved in January, but rejected a week later by New Hampshire

The Canadian Press · Posted: Feb 16, 2018

"Despite a rejection in New Hampshire, Massachusetts will continue negotiations on a conditional basis with Hydro-Québec and its American partner #Eversource for the Northern Pass project.

"Hydro-Quebec is counting on the Northern Pass to supply Massachusetts for 20 years, starting in 2020, as part of a historic contract signed with the state in January.

"It is estimated that the #CrownCorporation could pocket $10 billion in revenue if an agreement is reached.

"The project was rejected by the New Hampshire Site Review Board, which refused to grant a licence essential to Northern Pass's completion in the state.

"The Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs says talks on the project could end by March 27.

"In the meantime, conditional negotiations may be conducted for another project, the #NewEnglandCleanEnergyConnect [#NECEC] , which would be carried out by Hydro-Quebec and #CentralMainePower."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/massachusetts-to-continue-talks-with-hydro-qu%C3%A9bec-for-northern-pass-project-1.4540291

#AvanGrid #HydroQuebec #CMPCorridor #PeterMills #JanetMills #Corruption #NorthWoods #SaveTheNorthWoods #SaveTheForests #BigElectricity #MainePol #NewHampshirePol #ProtectTheNorthWoods #QuebecHydro

#CMPCorridor Proposal: A Bad Deal for #Maine

"In April 2023, a Cumberland County jury ruled in CMP’s favor during a court case that very likely will decide the future of the company’s controversial transmission corridor. The decision was based on technical legal issues and not on the merits of whether or not this was a good project for Maine

"We are disappointed with the outcome and remain sharply focused on achieving a just and equitable clean energy future that works for all Mainers.

"Maine has already shown there’s a better path forward than the CMP corridor. A path focused on #regional collaboration and centered in Maine’s pragmatic approach to solving problems.

"Mainers are pursuing home-grown clean energy sources, like the #KingPineWind project in Aroostook County that will deliver new and verifiable reductions in pollution rather than a shell game that shifts existing energy for maximum profit.

"#MaineVoters got it right when they overwhelmingly passed a referendum rejecting the #CMP corridor because it’s a bad deal for #Maine and a bad deal for our climate.

"#NRCM is honored to stand with youth #ClimateJustice activists, #tribes in Maine and Canada, people across #WesternMaine who rely on a vibrant outdoor recreation economy, and many others in opposing the CMP corridor. Thank you to everyone who partnered with us on this hard-fought campaign.

What is the CMP Corridor?

"Central Maine Power (CMP) is building a 145-mile transmission line through the heart of Maine to send hydropower from Quebec to electricity customers in Massachusetts.

"The CMP corridor is a bad deal for Maine. It will permanently damage #undeveloped #forest and #wildlife habitat, stifle the #LocalRenewableEnergy industry, and jeopardize the creation of clean energy jobs. The corridor won’t reduce global greenhouse gas emissions or create sustainable jobs for Maine people.

Top 4 Reasons NRCM Opposed the Corridor:

- Won’t reduce climate-changing pollution, and may actually increase it.
- Cuts 53 miles of new transmission lines through undeveloped forests in Maine’s #NorthWoods, harming brook trout, deer, other #wildlife, and the tourism economy.
- Jeopardizes the construction of new in-state renewable energy projects and creation of clean energy jobs.
- Generates billions of dollars of profit for CMP [#Avangrid] and #HydroQuebec while offering very little to Maine people and businesses."

https://www.nrcm.org/programs/climate/proposed-cmp-transmission-line-bad-deal-maine/

#NorthWoods #SaveTheNorthWoods
#SaveTheForests #BigElectricity
#MainePol #ProtectTheNorthWoods #QuebecHydro

Electricity for #Massachusetts! Why not run it through the #Berkshires?! Too many rich white folks, I guess!

#CMP parent company ready to energize controversial corridor by end of year

by Brad Rogers,WGME
Thu, November 20, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Updated Fri, November 21, 2025

PORTLAND (WGME) -- "CMP's parent company, Avangrid, is about to flip the switch and turn on a controversial power corridor through western Maine.

"After years of legal battles and regulatory hurdles, Avangrid now has its final permit for the New England Clean Energy Connect, linking Canadian hydropower to Massachusetts and going right through Maine."

https://wgme.com/news/local/cmp-parent-company-ready-to-energize-controversial-corridor-by-end-of-year-central-maine-power-avangrid-new-england-clean-energy-connect-hydro-quebec

#AvanGrid #HydroQuebec #CMPCorridor #PeterMills #JanetMills #Corruption #NorthWoods #SaveTheNorthWoods #SaveTheForests #BigElectricity #MainePol #ProtectTheNorthWoods #QuebecHydro

Just like when the #Maine public voted AGAINST the #CMPCorridor through the #NorthWoods!

Public feedback process for decision on #OffshoreWind port a charade, #environmentalists claim

State officials are accused of long favoring #SearsIsland, the largest undeveloped island in #PenobscotBay, as the future site of the port.

Author: Kate Cough of The Maine Monitor
Published: 12:51 PM EDT August 14, 2023

PORTLAND, Maine — "Environmentalists are decrying a year-long process meant to gather public feedback on where to build a #deepwater offshore wind port, calling it a 'charade.'

"They say state officials failed to adequately engage the public or #tribal communities and effectively decided where to construct the port long before the process began.

"The Maine Department of Transportation [#MDOT]has been making an internal case for Sears Island while 'giving an illusion of an impartial analysis of port possibilities to the public,' said #MattCannon, the state conservation and energy director for #SierraClubMaine, in comments at the final meeting of the Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group.

"'Some,' he said, 'see it as a breach of public trust.'

"State officials have said they’re considering several locations for the 100-acre port, including #Eastport, #MackPoint and Sears Island, and don’t expect to choose a final location until next year. The officials insist they have not made a final decision.

"But participants in the process, which began in May 2022, say the state has long advocated for Sears Island, the largest #undeveloped island in Penobscot Bay.

"They believe officials have not seriously considered other options for the port, which would be the staging area for equipment needed to build and maintain #Windturbines in federal waters in the #GulfOfMaine.

"Those suspicions hardened after documents released via a public records request submitted by #IslesboroIslandsTrust earlier this year revealed internal discussions seeming to indicate an official preference for the island. #FriendsOfSearsIsland manages the #trails on the conserved portion of the island.

"The documents included a '#Stakeholder Management Plan' written by state-hired consultant Kay Rand. The document said the goals were, in part, to 'develop and execute a stakeholder outreach strategy that would enable #GovernorJanetMills to … announce a commitment to pursue development of Sears Island as the #RenewableEnergy Port of the Northeast.'

"The document is dated Sept. 8, 2021 — eight months before the stakeholder group held its first meeting — and mentions pursuing Sears Island as the port at least four times."

Read more:
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/tech/science/environment/sears-island-environmental-deepwater-offshore-wind-port-public-feedback-process/97-dbdb520a-b539-43ad-98b0-44cba9ec751c

#Environment #EndangeredSpecies #ProtectSearsIsland #WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #ProtectWahsumkik #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #WabanakiAlliance #Wassumkeag #CorporateColonialism

When #corporations (and #developers) have more rights than people, this happens!

#Maine's high court rules that #VoterReferendum blocking power corridor was unconstitutional

August 30, 2022
by Kevin Miller, Maine Public

"Last fall, CMP and its partners were forced to halt construction of the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line in Maine after voters approved the referendum essentially blocking the $1 billion project. But in a decision released late Tuesday morning, Maine's Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a key portion of that ballot question would violate the developers’ 'constitutionally protected vested rights' by retroactively imposing new requirements after a key permit had been issued."

https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/08/30/maine-high-court-cmp-power-corridor-unconstitutional

#CMP #CMPCorridor #ProtectTheNorthWoods #QuebecHydro #Corporatocracy

So, what's going on with the #GorhamSpur seems a lot like what happened with the #CMPCorridor (which #Mainers voted against). Despite public opposition, #MTA will say, "Oh, well we already bought most of the land, so we have to keep going!" The same tactic was used with the CMP corridor through the North Woods, when CMP said, "Well, we already started the project -- we plan on completing if, even if the public opposes it!"

#MainePolitics #Maine #JanetMills #PeterMills #Corporatocracy #Overreach #TheWillOfThePeople #WorkingFarms #MaineTurnpikeAuthority
#Sprawl #GorhamSpur #GorhamConnector #Wetlands
#Meadows #EnvironmentalImpact #SaveSmilingHillFarm #SaveTheNorthWoods

How Government #FusionCenters Violate Americans’ Rights — and How to Stop It

The Biden administration and Congress must impose oversight and accountability on the state-run centers.

by Mike German
December 15, 2022

"A federal jury awarded $300,000 this month to a #MaineStatePolice trooper who was demoted after blowing the whistle on privacy violations at the state’s intelligence #FusionCenter. The federal government spurred the development of fusion centers after 9/11 as a means for sharing counterterrorism intelligence among state and local governments, as well as select private entities. The facts revealed during this trial adds to a mountain of evidence that fusion centers require greater regulation and oversight.

"The trooper alleged that the Maine Intelligence and Analysis Center, 1 in a network of 80 fusion centers operating across the country, was illegally collecting and sharing information about Maine residents who weren’t suspected of criminal activity. They included gun purchasers, people #protesting the construction of a new power transmission line, the employees of a #peacebuilding #SummerCamp for teenagers, and even people who travelled to New York City frequently. The whistleblower also claimed that fusion center supervisors pressured him to illegally share sensitive FBI information he had access to because of his position on the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

[...]

"Shortly after the Maine trooper filed his lawsuit in May 2020, a hack of a fusion center contractor exposed 296 gigabytes of intelligence records from more than 200 law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and DHS. The records substantiated the trooper’s complaints about privacy and #CivilRights violations at the #Maine fusion center and showed similar abuse occurring throughout the network, particularly in tracking #BlackLivesMatter #protests. The documents also showed that fusion centers had regularly spread misinformation sourced from dubious social media posts, including false reports alleging that #antifascists were starting wildfires or planning acts of violence. These specious reports distracted law enforcement during public safety emergencies."

Read more:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-government-fusion-centers-violate-americans-rights-and-how-stop-it

#FTPFriday #ACAB #SLAPPs #Fascism #CivilLiberties #ClimateActivists #QuebecHydro #CMP #CMPCorridor #ForestDefenders #WaterProtectors #CorporateColonialism

ICYMI - from 2019:

VERIFY: does Gov. #JanetMills' brother have ties to #CMPCorridor project?

NEWS CENTER #Maine verifies #PeterMills' involvement in the CMP corridor.

July 3, 2019

"In the last year, we have been bombarded with questions and concerns surrounding the #CMP transmission line project.

"Most recently, some of those concerns from you at home have shifted to Governor Janet Mills' support behind the project -- more specifically, if her brother, Peter Mills, has any ties to the corridor or if he has anything to gain from it.

"To verify these claims, NEWS CENTER Maine spoke with Peter Mills himself and referenced these public documents -- 'The Memorandum of Understanding between Central Maine Power Company and Western Mountains and Rivers Corporation'.

Here's what we found out.

"Mills does currently sit on the board of a charitable non-profit called Western Mountains and Rivers Corporation, an organization established back in 2017.

"He admits the non-profit has ties to CMP and the corridor project, but he says it's a very specific partnership.

"'The purpose of the corporation was to negotiate with #CentralMainePower and possibly #HydroQuebec to see to it that they would put together terms to mitigate in a public and charitable way, to mitigate for the impact of the power line if it were built.' says Mills. [I've seen this tactic before -- with #MaineTurnpikeAuthority donations to non-profits affected by #highway expansion]

"Public documents detail this agreement between the two entities, which includes CMP's requirement to provide $250,000 dollars to the non-profits trust fund; for start-up costs and other proceedings.

"It has been used to hire an #attorney to represent the interests of the #corporation in the #Legal proceedings before the #PUC and #LERK and the #DEP, and in negotiating for any mitigation terms including the creation of land rights of way in the #KennebecValley." says Mills."

Read more:

#MainePolitics #ClimateActivism #CorporateColonialism #CorporateFascism #Nepotism
#MaineTribes #Mining #GorhamSpur #GorhamConnector #SaveSmilingHillFarm #NoCMPCorridor

Despite local opposition and a statewide vote, the #CMPCorridor through #Maine's #NorthWoods is getting pushed through! #PeterMills, head of the #MaineTurnpikeAuthority and brother of #JanetMills, is on the board of a corporation involved in the project! Nothing to see here, eh? No wonder MTA has no problem destroying woods, streams and farmland here in southern #Maine!

#CMPCorridor Proposal: A Bad Deal for Maine

"In April 2023, a Cumberland County jury ruled in CMP’s favor during a court case that very likely will decide the future of the company’s controversial transmission corridor. The decision was based on technical legal issues and not on the merits of whether or not this was a good project for Maine.

"We are disappointed with the outcome and remain sharply focused on achieving a just and equitable clean energy future that works for all Mainers.

"Maine has already shown there’s a better path forward than the CMP corridor. A path focused on regional collaboration and centered in Maine’s pragmatic approach to solving problems.

"Mainers are pursuing home-grown clean energy sources, like the #KingPineWindProject in Aroostook County that will deliver new and verifiable reductions in pollution rather than a shell game that shifts existing energy for maximum profit.

"#MaineVoters got it right when they overwhelmingly passed a referendum rejecting the CMP corridor because it’s a bad deal for Maine and a bad deal for our climate.

"#NRCM is honored to stand with youth #ClimateJustice activists, tribes in Maine and Canada, people across western Maine who rely on a vibrant outdoor recreation economy, and many others in opposing the CMP corridor. Thank you to everyone who partnered with us on this hard-fought campaign."

Top 4 Reasons NRCM Opposes the Corridor:

- Won’t reduce climate-changing pollution, and may actually increase it.
- Cuts 53 miles of new transmission lines through undeveloped #forests in Maine’s #NorthWoods, harming brook trout, deer, other #wildlife, and the tourism economy.
- Jeopardizes the construction of new in-state #RenewableEnergy projects and creation of clean energy jobs.
- Generates billions of dollars of profit for CMP and #HydroQuebec while offering very little to Maine people and businesses.

Read more:
https://www.nrcm.org/programs/climate/proposed-cmp-transmission-line-bad-deal-maine/

#MainePolitics #ClimateActivism #CorporateColonialism #CorporateFascism #Nepotism #MaineTribes #Mining #GorhamSpur #GorhamConnector

Let's see, vetoed #TribalSovereignty, is letting her brother destroy #Maine forests (#CMPCorridor), wetlands and a 200-year-old working farm (#GorhamSpur), and is all for opening up Maine to #ToxicRockets and #Mining! I can't wait for the Mills reign to be over!!

#MaineTribes and #JanetMills close in on deal to avoid another sovereignty veto

February 26, 2024

"The #WabanakiAlliance has advocated for years to amend the $81.5 million settlement to give tribes access to additional federal benefits available to tribes in other states, relating to issues such as health care, land acquisition and disaster assistance. The alliance has pointed to a Harvard University report finding they lagged economically behind tribes in other states.

"But Mills vetoed sovereignty proposals in the past few years and opposes the initial language included in the 41-page Talbot Ross bill that came out last week. Mills believes the more sweeping plan would lead to legal issues and create confusion, according to her office."

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/02/26/politics/janet-mills-maine-tribes-compromise/

#NoCompromise! #LandBack #MaineTribes #IndigenousSovereignty #Wabanaki #WabanakiTribes #WabanakiNations #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #Micmac #Miqmak #Maliseets #IndigenousNews