FYI: Northern Pass High Voltage Transmission Project

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Jeb Bradley calls for burial of Northern Pass...of most of the line anyway.

NPR audio interview of Jeb Bradley on how things are going at halftime at the NH State house. His audio begins at 14:00 where he talks first about the death penalty as well as relaxation of marijuana laws. To get right on to NP, go to 18:30. His part ends at 24:00. It's pretty good.

http://nhpr.org/post/halftime-statehouse

two quotes from Bradley:

"135' towers do have an impact on property values. These will have to be buried."

"We can't be sacrificing a lot of hard working New Hampshire families who lose value in their investment" to Northern Pass towers."
 
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The highway ROW options sure make a lot of sense, although the RR track option has its benefits. I expect the options running the line along the Franconia Parkway are going to be non starters. There is one alignment, 2.6B that runs through Kinsman's Notch along existing roads which is probably the least impact, although even that alignment has some overhead in southern NH. Unfortunately I expect that the line would be laid adjacent to the road so there would most likley be some condemation of private lands plus wetland permitting for impacts to roadside wetlands.

2.7 using railroad right of ways is interesting as RR tracks inherently are relatively straight with gradual elevation changes. The ROWs exist and have a long term commercial use. It would also be fairly easy to do borings to determine depth of ledge. With the exception of temporary construction easements, there should be limited condemnation of private lands. Of course, some of the railbeds may be owned outright or have deeded options to the prior owners that reserve rights for alternative use.

If all the options are investigated in detail in an unbiased approach, this is going to be a major effort. I expect any contractor that has site assessment skills is going to have plenty of opportunities to work in NH over the next year. No matter what the result, I expect this opens up opportunities for litigation. The down side is that the developer has far deeper pockets than the opposition so it will be hard for the opposition to deal with impacts arising from each option.
 
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A new concept from the governor of VT. Bury the lines along I91 and I 93. This cuts out much of northern NH the most contentious location. Of course the Franconia Parkway would still be a still be a issue, although while driving up through the parkway for the last few days. I see observed that it really wouldn't take that much the shoulder wider through the most restricted portion of the notch by using up the space occupied by the old man viewing area on the northbound side which no longer get much use.

http://nhpr.org/post/vt-governor-weighs-northern-pass-burial
 
peakbagger said:
A new concept from the governor of VT. Bury the lines along I91 and I 93. This cuts out much of northern NH the most contentious location. Of course the Franconia Parkway would still be a still be a issue,
Click to expand...

Do I-91 and I-89 instead, that would mean the converter station would no longer be in Franklin and it would be interesting to see if officials there change their tune

Although for a buried line I think the old rail corridors would be superior, no ledge near the surface and minimal traffic control issues
 
Many folks may not make the connection but the recently announced carbon regulations are most likely a major boost for NP. The administration will most likely now actively support it. I expect that that the prior ISO new England finding that the line was not essential for the New England power grid may get changed. Southern New England is going to be desperate to get access to NP as its a relatively easy way of coming up with enough power to allow them to shutter fossil plants.

In my opinion, it changes the debate from a "if it is needed" to "where its going to go". Of course I expect that many folks would accept NP if is was buried along existing right of ways or some of the other alternatives with less visual and environmental impacts so it doesn't shut down debate but it does make it "grayer" than the prior "Yes/No Northern Pass" debate .
 
Last I heard, MA doesn't count imported hydro as "green" for the purposes of the required minimum green energy content, which is why up until now, there hasn't been much of a 'pull' from MA for Northern Pass. But the EPA CO2 requirements are a separate animal.

I think a lot of the opposition would be OK with burial or a less-intrusive route, but NP hasn't seemed to want to discuss those options.
 
peakbagger said:
A new fairly long article from the Audubon Magazine, definitely not a supporter

http://www.audubonmagazine.org/articles/climate/pulling-plug-energy-project-new-england
Click to expand...

I enjoyed reading that. Thanks.

I agree Scubahh - that is a great quote from Rod McAllaster, "my roots are deeper than your pockets." He said that awhile ago though I think; I recall reading it in another article on the McAllaster Farm right after they opted for the easement. I do think that quote should end up on yard signs. It's one of those powerful kinds of quotes that can bring chills.
 
Process initiated to allow ratepayer funding and eminent domain

June 22. 2014 7:34PM
Boost for Northern Pass partners?

By DAVE SOLOMON
New Hampshire Union Leader

The six New England governors, working with the New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCO) and regional grid operators, have launched a process under which Northern Pass partners may be able to acquire substantial ratepayer funding and eminent domain powers for the controversial plan to bring hydroelectricity from Quebec into New England.

As a follow-up to their Energy Infrastructure Initiative, announced in December, the governors through NESCO plan to select a low-carbon transmission project by issuing requests for proposals. The winner of the RFP process would be eligible for cost-recovery through a tariff administered by ISO-NE, the independent system operator.

Adding ratepayer money to the participant funding could make the economics more attractive for burying more of the lines.

But if Northern Pass partners qualify for regional ratepayer support, they could then be eligible to use eminent domain, despite HB 648.

More: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140623/NEWS05/140629714
 
An interesting but not unexpected twist. I think the prior reason for not accepting grid money was so that the line would be a "merchant" line. Sort of like a private toll road versus a public highway. On a merchant basis the folks wanting the power would need to negotiate a price with the owner of the line for its use and regulator wouldn't be involved so the potential markup for access may be high. Once grid money gets added, its then a regulated entity with a guaranteed rate of return, no more no less. Therefore a merchant line builder would want to build it cheap and quick to get revenue and allow them to charge a premium while a regulated line would tend to be more expensive line as the return is based on the capital employed as well as fixed percentage profit for power transmission. There is still an incentive to build it quick as a publically funded line but there may be more negotiating space between the developer and the public as the developer may elect to bury it rather than face years of lawsuits.

It would be interesting as to how the NH ratepayer would be affected as PSNH has reportedly done a sleight of hand in that the ratepayer funded right of ways will be converted at zero dollars to a profit making entity that is outside the PSNH rate base.

Unless the governor and congressional delegation does a 180, I expect that Champlain Express may be more viable project as they have already determined that burial is viable. NP on the other hand currently has to file supplement EIS's on numerous options some of which include substantial burial. If burial is the chosen option Champlain Express has the upper hand as its a lot easier to sink a wire the length of Lake Champlain than it is to blast a corridor down through NH.

I expect the lawyers and lobbyists involved with the case have just assured their Mercedes payments for a few years.
 
I've been getting hammered by banner ads claiming that Northern Pass will save the NH economy. They are not going gently on this one.
 
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