I agree with columnist John Balentine’s conclusion that Central Maine Power Co.’s proposed power line will reduce energy costs and utilize a cleaner power source from Canada. However, I disagree with his assertion that this New England Clean Energy Connect project is some kind of “poison pill.” NECEC is the biggest contribution Maine can make to reducing greenhouse gases right now.

Balentine’s lament that a better choice would have been to keep old dams to generate this electricity has no merit. I’m afraid the only way to generate the additional electricity in the NECEC project in Maine would have included damming up the St. John and Allagash Rivers. Fortunately, steps were taken to preserve these resources.

Canada’s water resources are huge. They’ve built a series of power plants that generate clean, renewable energy with excess capacity. Tapping into this will allow New England to make a significant dent in removing carbon emissions from our air. Hydropower, a cleaner, reliable and less expensive source of generation, will result in lower electricity rates.

This project is a good deal. Every day of delay means tons of dirty greenhouse gases being pumped into our air by fossil fuel burning power plants. Let’s proceed with NECEC now.

Al Howlett
Yarmouth


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