Construction crews on the New England Clean Energy Connect project widen the existing tract of corridor near the Wyman Dam on Oct. 15, 2021. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel file

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Do you think the statewide referendum banning the CMP power project was unconstitutional?

That’s the big question lingering over the stalled New England power corridor following the Tuesday ruling from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The state’s high court found that the voter-approved law blocking the controversial project would be unconstitutional if enough work on the transmission line had already been completed.

It’s now up to lower court judge to determine if so-called “vested rights” had been established before the statewide referendum was held to block the $1 billion transmission project. Avangrid Networks, the parent company of Central Maine Power, is fighting to develop the 145-mile corridor to carry electricity from Quebec to Massachusetts.

Avangrid maintained that the new voter-approved law is unconstitutional and deprives the company of its vested rights to finish the project after receiving permits. Crews had already cleared more than 124 miles of right-of-way, erected more than 120 steel towers and spent $450 million on construction – nearly half of the corridor’s estimated $1 billion cost.

But what do you think? Was the statewide referendum banning the CMP power project unconstitutional? Does Avangrid have “vested rights” by completing enough work on the project after receiving permits? Let us know what you think in the poll and comments below.

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