Today in Episode 4 of 53 Miles of Maine, we dive into the role competitive energy companies, such as NextEra, played in supporting the opposition efforts to the New England Clean Energy Connect.

In doing so we’ll breakdown the playbook pioneered by fossil fuel giant Koch Industries that is being used by big energy companies all over the country to stall or support opposition to projects that are not their own.

Whether or not that applied here in Maine and if so, how influential it was in the ultimate outcome is a subject for much debate and discussion. Supporters of the NECEC believe it played a significant role, while the frontline of the opposition cite that they only needed the funding from competitive energy companies in order to keep up with the marketing spend of Hydro Quebec and the NECEC.

All that and more today in Episode 4.

As a recap for the series so far:

• Episode 1: Overview and timeline for the NECEC and how and why it got shut down in Maine
• Episode 2: The growing conflict between renewable energy advocates and environmental conservationists
• Episode 3: How and why our renewable energy transition will be decided at the Local level
• Episode 4: The tools big energy companies use to shut down competitive renewable projects and if that applied in Maine
• Episode 5: Final Recap, Coming Soon