3 questions that will decide the fate of the CMP corridor

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2022

The fate of Central Maine Power Co.’s stalled $1 billion hydropower corridor now lies in the hands of Maine’s high court after arguments on Tuesday. Voters rejected the corridor in a November referendum that overturned a key state permit. CMP’s parent company, Avangrid, moved to challenge the vote as unconstitutional. A judge turned that challenge back in December, allowing the anti-corridor law to take effect. That added another legal complication alongside an outstanding challenge to a Superior Court ruling determining the state had no right to lease 33 acres of state-owned land to the project without consulting the Legislature. Those challenges, combined with the suspension of the project’s license by the state, make the corridor’s future precarious.