Tree cutting resumes on N.E. grid project after pause to protect bats

THE FORKS, Maine — Tree-cutting is resuming on a $1 billion electric transmission project in western Maine after a two-month hiatus over a federally protected bat.

The New England Clean Energy Connect, to be paid for by Massachusetts rate-payers, was able to resume construction beginning Sunday on a key part of a 145-mile power line that would serve as a conduit for up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower to reach the New England power grid.

Tree-cutting was put on hold in June and July to protect the newly born young of a federally protected bat.

Northern long-eared bats are tiny — the size of a small mouse — and they live in trees instead of caves. Like most hibernating bats, their numbers have been decimated by so-called white nose syndrome, a deadly fungal disease that has killed millions of bats since it first appeared in New York in 2006.

Northern long-eared bats are listed as threatened by the federal government and endangered by the state government.

While tree-cutting was suspended, other construction including the setting of poles continued.

The project has been backed by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and will be fully funded by the state’s  ratepayers to meet clean energy goals.

Much of transmission line follows existing utility corridors but the new section cutting through 53 miles of woods is the subject a referendum in Maine in November.

Supporters say the power line will have the effect of reducing energy prices across the region, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Critics, meanwhile, say the environmental benefits are overstated and that it will destroy woodlands and harm wildlife.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3ljRmh6