NECEC TRANSMISSION LLC v. BUREAU OF PARKS

Docket: BCD-21-416.

281 A.3d 618 (2022)

2022 ME 48

NECEC TRANSMISSION LLC et al. v. BUREAU OF PARKS AND LANDS et al.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Decided: August 30, 2022.

Revised: September 8, 2022.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Timothy C. Woodcock, Esq. (orally), P. Andrew Hamilton, Esq. , Jonathan A. Pottle, Esq. , and Casey M. Olesen, Esq. , Eaton Peabody, Bangor, for appellant H.Q. Energy Services (U.S.) Inc.

John J. Aromando, Esq. (orally), Jared S. des Rosiers, Esq. , Joshua D. Dunlap, Esq. , and Sara A. Murphy, Esq. , Pierce Atwood LLP, Portland, for appellants NECEC Transmission LLC and Avangrid Networks, Inc.

Gerald F. Petruccelli, Esq. , and Scott D. Dolan, Esq. , Petruccelli, Martin & Haddow, LLP, Portland, for appellant Maine State Chamber of Commerce.

Sigmund D. Schutz, Esq. , Anthony W. Buxton, Esq. , Robert B. Borowski, Esq. , and Jonathan Mermin, Esq. , Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios LLP, Portland, for appellant Industrial Energy Consumer Group.

Philip M. Coffin III, Esq. , Jeffrey D. Russell, Esq. , and Cyrus E. Cheslak, Esq. , Lambert Coffin, Portland, for appellant Cianbro Corporation.

Benjamin K. Grant, Esq. , McTeague Higbee, Topsham, and Robert M. Cheverie, Esq. , Robert M. Cheverie & Associates, P.C., Hartford, Connecticut, for appellant International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 104.

Aaron M. Frey , Attorney General, and Jonathan R. Bolton , Asst. Atty. Gen. (orally), Office of the Attorney General, Augusta, for appellees Bureau of Parks and Lands, Maine Public Utilities Commission, Maine House of Representatives, and Maine Senate.

Christopher T. Roach, Esq. (orally), Roach Ruprecht Sanchez & Bischoff, P.C., Portland, for appellee NextEra Energy Resources, LLC.

James T. Kilbreth, Esq. (orally), David M. Kallin, Esq. , Jeana M. McCormick, Esq. , Sara P. Cressey, Esq. , and Oliver Mac Walton, Esq. , Drummond Woodsum, Portland, for appellees Thomas B. Saviello, Christine M. Geisser, Wendy A. Huisch, Jonathan T. Hull, Theresa E. York, Robert C. Yorks, and the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Orlando E. Delogu, amicus curiae pro se.

Dmitry Bam, amicus curiae pro se.

James L. Costello, Esq. , and Jason J. Theobald, Esq. , Curtis Thaxter LLC, Portland, for amici curiae former commissioners of the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

Timothy Norton, Esq. , and Shea H. Watson, Esq. , Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman, Portland, and David S. Rosenzweig, Esq. , Keegan Werlin LLP, Boston, Massachusetts, for amici curiae NStar Electric Company, Massachusetts Electric Company and Nantucket Electric Company, and Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company.

Elizabeth A. Boepple, Esq. , and Sean R. Turley, Esq. , Murray Plumb & Murray, Portland, and Paul W. Hughes, Esq. , and Andrew A. Lyons-Berg, Esq. , McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Washington, D.C., for amici curiae Calpine Corporation, Vistra Corporation, Holly Bragdon, and Brian Ahern.

Stacy O. Stitham, Esq. , and Eamonn R.C. Hart, Esq. , Brann & Isaacson, Lewiston, for amicus curiae City of Lewiston.

Timothy A. Pease, Esq. , and Jonathan P. Hunter, Esq. , Rudman Winchell, Bangor, for amici curiae Susan Austin, Susan Bernard, Jon Connor, Steve Foster, Peter Lyford, Beth O'Connor, Nathan Wadsworth, Dustin White, Harold Stewart III, and Andre Cushing.

Brett D. Baber, Esq. , Lanham Blackwell & Baber, PA, Bangor, for amicus curiae Robert J. Weiner.

Richard Anderson, Walter Anderson, Richard Barringer, Lloyd Irland, Ellen Pope, Tom Rumpf, and Sam Zaitlin, amici curiae pro se.

Panel: STANFILL, C.J., JABAR and HORTON, JJ., CLIFFORD, A.R.J., and HUMPHREY, A.R.J.


[¶1] The New England Clean Energy Connect project (the Project) is designed to transmit power generated in Québec through Maine and into Massachusetts. The Project includes a new 145.3-mile, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line, proposed to run from the Maine-Québec border in Beattie Township to a new...

Let's get started

Leagle.com

Welcome to the leading source of independent legal reporting
Sign on now to see your case.
Or view more than 10 million decisions and orders.

  • Updated daily.
  • Uncompromising quality.
  • Complete, Accurate, Current.

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases