The milestone clears the way for the $1 billion transmission line to begin energization by the end of 2025, concluding years of intense legal and regulatory battles.
After a tumultuous journey marked by ballot initiatives, supreme court rulings, and regulatory scrutiny, Avangrid, Inc. announced today that it has obtained the final permit required to energize the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission line. The breakthrough came on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, when the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) formally approved the company's plan to conserve 50,000 acres of Maine wilderness.
The massive infrastructure project is now scheduled to conclude testing and commissioning by the end of this year.
The NECEC project is poised to become one of the most significant energy interventions in New England’s history. The 145-mile transmission line is designed to deliver 1,200 megawatts (MW) of baseload hydropower and electricity from Québec directly into the New England grid.
Avangrid estimates the project will reduce regional carbon emissions by up to 3.6 million metric tons annually—roughly equivalent to removing 700,000 internal combustion vehicles from the road. Economically, the project is projected to provide approximately $3 billion in net benefits to Massachusetts ratepayers over the life of the contracts.
"This achievement is the culmination of years of hard work, collaboration, and perseverance," said Avangrid CEO Jose Antonio Miranda. "We have secured every permit, met every regulatory requirement, and overcome significant challenges because we believe we must address the urgent need for reliable energy at a time of rising demand."
As a condition for the permit, Avangrid was required to permanently conserve a vast tract of forest land to offset the impact of the new transmission corridor cut through western Maine. The approved plan covers 50,000 acres, a scale that Avangrid argues demonstrates its commitment to stewardship.
However, the approval was not without contention. Leading up to the decision, environmental advocacy groups, including the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) and the Appalachian Mountain Club, expressed concern that the conservation plan did not go far enough to protect "mature" forests. Critics argued that the land set aside was not of sufficiently high ecological value to compensate for the fragmentation caused by the new power lines. Despite these objections, the Maine DEP ultimately ruled that the plan met the state's legal and regulatory standards.
The NECEC project faced fierce opposition funded largely by rival energy generators, most notably NextEra Energy, who stood to lose market share to the influx of cheaper Canadian hydropower.
The conflict came to a head in November 2021, when Maine voters approved a referendum to retroactively ban the project. Construction was halted for nearly two years until a Maine jury and the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2023 that Avangrid had "vested rights" to complete the project, declaring the referendum unconstitutional as applied to NECEC.
