Energy News Roundup: September 11-September 17

This week in regional energy news …

• Hydro-Quebec has announced an imminent deal to construct a high-voltage transmission line to export power from its generators through to New England.  Hydro-Quebec is currently in talks with NStar and Northern Utilities on the proposed line.  A line to New York could be in the works, too.
• Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley has asked the Department of Public Utilities to reject National Grid’s rate increase, which could add up to $15 per month to customers’ bills.
• Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection has granted the Calais LNG terminal project more time to find financial investors.  Calais LNG has until Dec. 1 to file its application to build the facility.
• Susan Eisenhower, a proponent of nuclear power who serves on the U.S. DOE’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (and granddaughter of DDE), will speak at Husson College on Sept. 28.
• The University of Maine will soon take energy via a landfill gas line from neighboring Old Town.  University Trustees approved the project on Monday.
• Gardiner, Maine, is looking into building a small hydroelectric power plant at the New Mills Dam, along the Cobbosseecontee Stream.
• Maine’s latest Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction garnered $1.7 million for Efficiency Maine.  All told, $7.1 million in RGGI funds have been added to Efficiency Maine for efficiency grant programs.