Mass. utilities, Canadian hydro company file dueling lawsuits over new Maine transmission line

MAINE MORNING STAR • September 14, 2026

In the latest twist in the effort to bring Canadian hydropower to Massachusetts, a scorched-earth legal battle has erupted between the state’s electric utilities and the Quebec-based company responsible for delivering energy into New England through a long-delayed Maine transmission line that flickered to life earlier this year. Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil — the state’s three electric utilities — are suing Hydro-Quebec in federal court for shutting off power just eight days after the transmission line began operating and in the middle of one of the biggest cold snaps the region has experienced in recent history.