Avangrid’s Transmission Line Lease Upheld by Maine Supreme Court

Maine officials acted within their legal authority in leasing state land to Avangrid Inc.‘s much-debated proposed electric transmission line project, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The ruling is the second in three months to grant the line’s developers a legal path forward after Maine voters rejected the project in a November 2021 referendum, known as Question 1. The legal cases involving New England Clean Energy Connect are being closely watched in the debate over building more long-haul transmission.

Tuesday’s ruling found the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands’ lease of 0.9 miles of public land to Central Maine ...