PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 13, 2026
After years of controversy, the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line will begin commercial operations this week, according to documents filed with Maine regulators. The 145-mile line connects a hydropower generation facility in Quebec, Canada, to a converter station in Lewiston, cutting through Franklin and Somerset counties to inject 1,200 megawatts of renewable electricity into the New England grid. It includes a 53-mile segment that required trees to be cleared northwest of Caratunk; the rest runs along an already-existing corridor. Since its proposal in 2017, the project faced heavy opposition from environmental groups, which argued that its construction would disrupt the surrounding environment and wildlife.