After the Maine Law Court determined that a successful ballot initiative that blocked completion and operation of the New England Clean Energy Connection transmission line corridor might have violated the developers’ due process rights, the Maine Business and Consumer Court declined to reconsider its denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction barring the effectiveness of the ballot initiative. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the Law Court had determined that they had vested rights to complete construction. Instead, the court said, the Law Court had returned the case to the Business and Consumer Court for factfinding. The Business and Consumer Court said the plaintiffs had not argued that a “tipping point” after which completion of the project would no longer be feasible would occur while the case was being litigated in trial court, where a trial was scheduled to begin in April 2023.

Lawsuit challenging Maine law banning completion and operation of the New England Clean Energy Connection transmission line corridor, which would transport electricity from Canadian hydropower facilities into Maine and the New England electric grid.

NECEC Transmission LLC v. Bureau of Parks & Lands, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

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Maine Court Declined to Enjoin Ballot Initiative Blocking New England Clean Energy Connection Transmission Line

Filed

United States of America

Maine

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Maine Court Declined to Enjoin Ballot Initiative Blocking New England Clean Energy Connection Transmission Line

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