Power Surge from Quebec: Massachusetts Set to Receive 20% of Its Electricity from Canadian Hydropower Starting Friday

BY SAM DRYSDALE

Canadian hydropower is scheduled to surge into Massachusetts on Friday, marking a major new energy source for the state. 

The long-promised and long-delayed transmission line that will carry up to 1,090 megawatts of electricity into the state is set to begin commercial operation after work wrapped up on the project in December, according to a biannual update that developer Avangrid filed with the Maine Public Utilities Commission on Jan. 2.

Gov. Maura Healey said Wednesday that the state estimates it will power about 20% of the electricity in Massachusetts.

Healey’s office has scheduled an “energy announcement” for noon at the Grand Staircase in the State House on Friday.

The transmission project called New England Clean Energy Connect has been in the works for a decade and is critical to efforts to tap power from Hydro-Québec and send it to Massachusetts. 

Because Massachusetts does not border Canada, it has had to rely on cooperation from neighboring states to unlock the clean energy source. Since 2018 Massachusetts ratepayers have been fronting the bill for the construction of the 145-mile line through Maine to the Canadian border. 

In the meantime, there’s been political and legal brawls: conservation concerns, temporary construction pauses and court battles, while higher costs have been passed on to ratepayers.

Avangrid said in its filing that the NECEC project satisfied all conditions for commercial operation as of Dec. 31, 2025, and scheduled its official beginning of operations for Jan. 16 “unless the parties—NECEC, the Massachusetts Electric Distribution Companies, and Hydro-Québec—mutually agree in writing to an alternative date (such as a slightly earlier start).” 

Avangrid spokesperson Craig Gilvarg did not respond to inquiries about the timing of commercial operations.

Conservation Law Foundation Director of Clean Grid Phelps Turner said there’s been significant testing over the past few weeks, up to the full capacity of the line at times, which means hydropower is already coming into Massachusetts. 

The line will carry 1,200 megawatts of baseload hydropower to the New England grid, of which Massachusetts utilities contracted 1,090 megawatts. Avangrid has said energy headed for New England’s grid is enough to power more than a million homes in the region. 

According to Avangrid, hydropower could reduce regional carbon emissions by up to 3.6 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of removing 700,000 cars from the road. 

The company estimates $3 billion in net benefits for Massachusetts ratepayers. That translates into monthly bill reductions of roughly $1.50 for many households, per a Department of Public Utilities settlement from last year.

“It’s important to know we’ve got hydro now coming in from Quebec,” Healey said to reporters after an unrelated event on Tuesday. “And that’s a good thing, so we’re trying to take advantage of all forms of energy.”

The completion of the project comes at an uncertain time for energy politics in the United States.

Offshore wind contracts remain in limbo due to federal permitting freezes under the Trump administration and unstable power-purchase agreements. Interconnection bottlenecks continue to stall new solar and storage projects. And two major offshore wind projects in Massachusetts — SouthCoast Wind and New England Wind — remain in regulatory uncertainty. Only Vineyard Wind 1 is currently delivering power, even after the Trump administration has targeted it as a national security risk. 

Amidst his efforts to reverse progress on clean energy, Trump referred to hydropower as an “all-time favorite” in the early days of his second administration. However, his energy policy has been defined by an America-first agenda, steering the country towards reliance on fossil fuels produced within US borders.

Hydro-Québec gets its power from the Canadian province’s network of 500,000 lakes and 4,500 rivers that cover 22% of the land’s surface area, according to the company. The water is harnessed from watersheds and managed reservoirs. Hydro-Québec is a nationalized corporation owned entirely by the province of Quebec. 

Asked about any concerns that the Trump administration could target the new clean energy flowing into New England, Turner pointed out that the federal administration had to grant a number of approvals for the transmission line to get built. That included a presidential permit required for energy infrastructure that crosses an international border that Trump granted in his first term, he said.

Still, “there’s been a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability in regards to energy policy on the federal level,” he said, pointing to tariffs levied on Canada during the spring of 2025 that were “never really resolved.” 

In response to U.S. tariffs on energy exports like oil implemented in March 2025, Quebec Premier François Legault said his government was assessing the legal feasibility of breaking its power supply contract with New York and Massachusetts, though that hasn’t come to fruition. 

“Now that the moment appears to be here, I’d reiterate and emphasize that it is a key milestone in New England to a clean, reliable energy system,” Turner said. “It’s providing clean energy at low cost and an energy supplier that’s very reliable. This is a moment we’ve waited for for almost a decade.”