PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 4, 2026
The debate surrounding the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project has lasted for years. The matter now under consideration is not whether NECEC should have been approved. That decision has already been made, and the line is operating. Nor is the question whether some people would prefer a different conservation approach than the one ordered when the Department of Environmental Protection approved the NECEC and upheld by the Board of Environmental Protection on appeal. The board’s responsibility is determining whether the applicant complied with the conservation conditions imposed. In my view, the answer is yes. The integrity of Maine’s regulatory system depends on the board being willing to say so. ~ Matt Scott, former chairman, Maine Board of Environmental Protection