BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 21, 2023
Hydro-Quebec, a partner on the controversial $1 billion hydropower line through western Maine, may restart a nuclear reactor as it eyes future power demands. News broke earlier this month that the Quebec utility is considering restarting a decommissioned nuclear plant, and that has renewed questions about whether it can meet existing power contracts for the New England Clean Energy Connect project in Maine. The contract that Hydro-Quebec has for the NECEC project with Maine and Massachusetts will deliver hydroelectricity most of the time, but it allows Hydro-Quebec to pull back supplies in critical hours when Quebec has its own shortages, said David Littell, an energy and environmental attorney in Portland and a former member of the Maine Public Utilities Commission.