Hydro-Quebec and a trio of Massachusetts utilities filed dueling lawsuits in federal court last week, alleging contract violations stemming from service interruptions this winter on a high-voltage power line through western Maine.

Eversource, National Grid and Unitil allege that Hydro-Quebec stopped delivering electricity over the New England Clean Energy Connect line just a few days after it went into operation this January.

Joe LaRusso, manager of the clean grid program at Acadia Center, an energy nonprofit, said that despite service interruptions this winter and over the summer, the transmission line is largely delivering clean power to the New England electric grid.

And even though Quebec is still importing power from New England that is largely generated with polluting natural gas power plants, those imports are outweighed by the power coming down the NECEC line, LaRusso added.

“That clean power is not only reducing the amount of emissions, but also the cost of electricity here in the region,” LaRusso said.

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