The NECEC: From groundbreaking legal precedent to a jury verdict -- what it takes to build a major clean energy infrastructure project in Maine

The NECEC:  From groundbreaking legal precedent to a jury verdict -- what it takes to build a major clean energy infrastructure project in Maine.

June 15, 2023 from 12:00-1:15 p.m. 

via Zoom

Join John Aromando and Sara Murphy, two of the attorneys representing Plaintiffs NECEC Transmission LLC and Avangrid Networks, Inc., as they discuss the multiple lawsuits involving the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line, also known as the “NECEC” or the CMP Corridor, culminating in a 9-0 jury verdict in favor of the NECEC on the theory that Plaintiffs had acquired “vested rights” to complete the project.  Previously limited to the municipal context, through this case the Law Court clarified that vested rights is a doctrine grounded in the Due Process Clause of Maine’s Constitution, therefore providing a limit on the State’s and the citizens’ legislative powers to enact retroactive laws. After a seven-day trial in Cumberland County, a jury unanimously concluded that Plaintiffs had acquired vested rights to develop the NECEC by proving that they undertook significant, visible construction in good faith prior to November 2, 2021, the date Maine voters approved a citizens’ initiative that, but for Plaintiffs’ vested rights, would have prevented the NECEC from being built.  This litigation has received national attention from developers seeking to rely on valid permits to build large clean energy projects, and was staunchly opposed by an interesting coalition of competing interests.  The future of clean energy development and other large infrastructure projects in Maine and indeed the United States literally hung in the balance.   

Speakers: John Aromando, Esq. and Sara Murphy, Esq.

This program has been approved for one hour of general CLE credit.  Registrants will be emailed the Zoom log in credentials one day before the program.