MAINE, USA — The New England Clean Energy Connect project is approaching completion after Avangrid received its final state permit, clearing the last major regulatory hurdle for the power corridor.

The company said in an email that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection approved the conservation of just over 50,000 acres of wilderness. The land is meant to offset the forest that was cleared to build the corridor. With the permit in hand, Avangrid said it will begin testing and commissioning the transmission lines.

The project, designed to bring hydropower from Quebec into the New England grid, has faced pushback since it was first proposed in 2017. Earlier plans in New Hampshire and Vermont were rejected before Central Maine Power pitched a Maine route in 2018, connecting Lewis

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