A budget signed by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey this week will allow utilities to raise rates to make up for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs to complete a transmission line to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England electricity grid.

The head of Central Maine Power Co.’s corporate parent Avangrid has said the cost of the $1 billion project grew to $1.5 billion as litigation delayed construction and inflation caused prices to creep upward.

Legislation included the supplemental budget adopted Monday allows transmission service agreements to be renegotiated and additional costs to be passed along to Massachusetts ratepayers to cover the added costs.

Avangrid provided the increased costs to Massachusetts’ electricity distribution companies to adjust the rate in the parties’ transmission services agreements, subject to Department of Public Utilities review and approval, Avangrid spokesperson Leo Rosales said in a statement Tuesday.

Avangrid partnered with Hydro-Quebec on the New England Clean Energy Connect to supply 1,200 megawatts of hydropower to meet green energy goals in Massachusetts. That would be enough electricity to power about a million homes.

Job openings fall as economy cools

U.S. employers posted 8.7 million job openings in October, the fewest since March 2021, in a sign that hiring is cooling in the face of higher interest rates yet remains at a still-healthy pace.

The Labor Department’s report said Tuesday that openings were down significantly from 9.4 million in September.

The drop in job openings last month was particularly steep in healthcare and social assistance, where they fell by 236,000; and finance, which includes banking, insurance and real estate and which has been hit particularly hard by higher interest rates, down 217,000.