NECEC Underwhelms After Six Months of Operation
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- NECEC started carrying Canadian hydropower into Maine in January 2025, but energy flow into New England is up only marginally, with roughly 27 days when no power at all traveled the new line.
- Hydro-Québec is contracted to deliver 9.55 terawatt-hours per year to Massachusetts (roughly 20% of state demand), but exports on the older Phase 2 line from Quebec have collapsed from 12+ TWh in 2019 to just over 0.5 TWh through April 2025, while NECEC moved only 2.4 TWh in the same period.
- Persistent drought in Quebec is starving the system, and the province has begun importing power back over the Phase 2 line — more than 500 GWh traveled into Canada in early 2025 — even as New England burns natural gas to keep that northward flow moving.
- The new Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line began sending Quebec electricity into New York City this month, adding a second competitor for the same drought-constrained supply Hydro-Québec sells to Massachusetts.
- On May 16, NECEC briefly demonstrated its potential: high solar output plus full-tilt hydropower could have met all regional demand from non-fossil resources, though most of the clean power actually flowed south to New York.
- Massachusetts' contract with Hydro-Québec includes financial penalties requiring the Canadian utility to cover replacement power costs if it fails to deliver, shielding ratepayers even as the climate benefits lag.
Why it matters: New England's clean energy strategy is exposed to Quebec's weather: drought is cutting Canadian hydropower exports and forcing the region to burn more natural gas — including to ship power back north — despite the cost of building a new line to reduce fossil fuel reliance. Massachusetts ratepayers are protected by contract penalties, but NECEC's promised climate benefits depend on rainfall Hydro-Québec cannot guarantee.
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