PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – An attempt to stop a statewide vote on Central Maine Power’s proposed hydropower transmission corridor failed, but an appeal is likely.

A Maine judge on Monday rejected a lawsuit that targeted petitions used to put the proposal on the November ballot.

The secretary of state rejected 16,332 signatures but found that there were enough valid signatures to clear threshold to put the $1 billion project to a vote.

The New England Clean Energy Connect would serve as a conduit for 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower to reach the New England power grid.