Avangrid Power Line Gets Lifeline After Maine’s Rejection (2)

A $1 billion, 145-mile Avangrid Inc. electric transmission line proposed to carry Canadian hydropower to Massachusetts may be able to move forward after voters in Maine rejected the project last November, the Maine Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The court concluded that the voter initiative, applied retroactively to a state-issued authorization for the project, would infringe on the New England Clean Energy Connect’s constitutional rights to proceed with a project that has secured permits. The court found, though, that project developers must demonstrate they “engaged in substantial construction of the project in good-faith reliance” on the authority granted by a certificate ...