A state panel in New Hampshire on Thursday rejected a permit the Northern Pass power line project needs to move forward.
Just last week the project’s developers beat out others — including several in Maine — that bid for a massive renewable energy contract sought by Massachusetts.
The Northern Pass project would sluice electricity from Canada’s Hydro Quebec dam system through New Hampshire to Massachusetts customers.
Now, companies such as Central Maine Power, which proposed to build new transmission through western Maine, could see their hopes to win the contract revived.
The developer of Northern Pass, Eversource, does have some opportunities to try to keep the project alive, though, including appealing the Site Evaluation Committee’s permit rejection to New Hampshire’s Supreme Court.
