Northern Pass seeks reconsideration of New Hampshire Permit Decision

MANCHESTER — Northern Pass officials on Friday, April 27, asked the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee to reconsider its denial of the project’s application.

In its motion filed April 27th, the project emphasized the SEC’s responsibility to thoroughly evaluate the comprehensive solution proposed by Northern Pass and discharge the committee’s legal obligation to consider all criteria by which an application is to be measured. The SEC is expected to deliberate on the project’s motion on May 24.

“We have presented to the SEC a solution that fully addresses the issues they pointed to in their order denying the permit,” said Eversource New Hampshire President Bill Quinlan. “The solution is a comprehensive set of commitments and conditions, many of which were proposed by Counsel for the Public, that can be imposed to address the SEC’s concerns.”

The SEC on Feb. 1 abruptly ended deliberations on Northern Pass’ application after two-and-a-half days, with no consideration of conditions that were proposed by the project and others, and having voted on just two of the four required statutory criteria.

Key Commitments

In its original SEC application, Northern Pass contemplated the need to further economic development, tourism, community investment and clean energy innovation, and these are the four focus areas for its $200 million Forward NH Fund. Key commitments highlighted by the project include the following specific allocations from the Fund:

$25 million to address property value impacts in affected communities

$25 million for promoting tourism and recreation in the affected areas

$25 million for economic development in host communities to address local impacts

In addition, the proposed commitments include:

Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in the downtown areas of both Plymouth and Franconia to reduce construction impacts to businesses and residents

Energy cost benefits for business and low-income customers from the sale of clean energy attributes (up to $300 million)

Transmission upgrades in the North Country to promote existing (400MW) and new small-scale renewable generation ($50 million)

Dedicated funding for the North Country Job Creation Fund to support economic development and job growth ($7.5 million)

Public interest program funding to advance energy efficiency programs for customers ($20 million)

Right-of-way lease benefits that will lower customers’ transmission costs and advance distributed generation, energy storage and electric vehicle initiatives ($30 million)

The unallocated balance of the $200 million in the Forward NH Fund is available to the SEC for further conditions ($100M)

Northern Pass has received the following approvals:

State Approvals

NH Department of Environmental Services

Wetland final decision

Shoreland Protection final decision

Alteration of Terrain final decision

Section 401 Water Quality certificate

NH Department of Transportation

NH PUC Authorization to Commence Business as a Public Utility

NH PUC Authorization to Cross Public Lands and Waters

NH PUC Approval of PSNH Lease

Federal Approvals

DOE Final Environmental Impact Statement

DOE Record of Decision

Presidential Permit

U.S. Forest Service Final Record of Decision

Canadian Approvals

Québec Provincial Permit

Canadian National Energy Board

Three Approvals Remain

NH Site Evaluation Committee – Certificate of Site and Facility

U.S. Forest Service Special Use Permit (draft issued; final permit expected soon)

U.S. Army Corps Section 404 Permit (expected following issuance of SEC permit)

The Northern Pass is a 192-mile electric transmission line project that will bring to New England 1,090 megawatts of clean hydropower. This reliable and affordable source of power will also bring a wide range of benefits to the region, including millions of dollars in energy cost savings and a significant reduction in carbon emissions. To learn more about Northern Pass, go to www.northernpass.us