FEDERAL REGULATORS CLEARED THE WAY on Thursday for Eversource’s Northern Pass transmission project to receive one of the two permits necessary to begin construction of a line carrying hydroelectricity from Quebec to southern New Hampshire.
The US Department of Energy issued a final environmental impact statement for Northern Pass, setting the stage for the award of a presidential permit, which allows Eversource to connect with power lines from Hydro-Quebec across the Canadian border.
Officials said the environmental impact statement identified Eversource’s proposed route through New Hampshire as the “preferred alternative” and described the scenic impact as low to very low.
Meet the Author
Editor, CommonWealth
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
The project also needs permitting approvals from the state of New Hampshire, and a decision on those is due sometime in the fall. The project has faced strong opposition from New Hampshire residents concerned about the impact of an above-ground transmission line on the state.
Eversource officials say they expect to have all permits in hand by the end of this year and be operational in 2020. Eversource, in partnership with Hydro-Quebec, has submitted two bids to Massachusetts in response to a request for proposals in connection with a major clean energy purchase.
Hydro-Quebec also submitted bids with two other transmission companies, one of whom, TDI New England, has all of its permits and says it is shovel ready to build an underground and underwater transmission line from Quebec to Vermont using the floor of Lake Champlain.
SHARE
