Central Maine Power voluntarily halted construction Nov. 19 on its $1-billion hydroelectric transmission project in western Maine following a plea from Gov. Janet Mills (D), after the Nov. 2 decision by 60% of state voters to reject the project. The utility and project supporters still await a decision by the state business court on a temporary restraining order filing against the vote, which they claim is unconstitutional.
145英里新英格兰清洁能源连接project would deliver hydropower from Quebec through Maine to supply Massachusetts residents. About $450 million has been invested in the project so far.
米尔斯说她发送了一封信to新的NECEC总统兼首席执行官索恩·狄金森（Thorn Dickinson）敦促他停止建设，这是在几个小时内发生的。她于11月2日获得了选举结果，公投将于12月19日成为法律。
法院将在那天听到CMP父母Avangrid在11月3日提交的提交文件中的初步禁令。
The recently passed initiative “is and remains unconstitutional and violates both state and federal law,” Dickinson said in a Nov. 22 statement. “While the NECEC project will continue to vigorously pursue all legal avenues, the company has decided to temporarily suspend construction … until … the court acts upon our motion for a preliminary injunction.”
他说，暂停建设将需要裁员400多名州工人。
项目合作伙伴Hydro-Quebec的一位女发言人说，它计划在11月24日之前简要介绍以支持初步禁令。
However, the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection Commissioner Melanie Loyzim on Nov. 23 suspended a key project permit, but said it could be restored if the injunction or other legal action is successful.
DEP举动在11月22日举行的公开听证会之后，双方的律师在走廊的合法性上进行了证词，公投是否改变permit conditionsand justifies pulling it. Corridor supporters urged the agency to let the courts decide.
NECEC's Dickinson said project developers are "disappointed with the decision," noting their efforts "to mitigate the environmental impacts of the project affecting only a thousand acres of land while committing to preserve 40,000 acres." He added that "there has been no change in the real and serious need for this project to address climate change," which he said the agency "correctly concluded presents the 'single greatest threat to Maine’s natural environment,'" in granting the permit.
迪金森补充说，随着自愿结构的停顿，“我们认为无需……暂停许可。我们仍然致力于建设走廊。”
阿巴拉契亚山俱乐部缅因州保护政策总监Eliza Townsend。该组织说：“长期以来，我们一直反对该项目，并介入了许可过程，我们将重点放在栖息地破碎对野生动植物的影响上。”
A group of Massachusetts lawmakers also曾问过州长查理·贝克to cut state ties to the project.
