By Robert Mullin
New Hampshire officials voted unanimously Thursday to reject Eversource Energy’s Northern Pass transmission project, stymying the company’s effort to deliver 1,090 MW of hydropower to Massachusetts.
The rejection comes just a week after New Hampshire’s southern neighbor awarded Eversource and Hydro-Québec a contract to deliver 9.45 TWh of renewably energy each year via Northern Pass. The project was the only winner in the highly anticipated solicitation. (See Northern Pass Cleans up in Mass. RFP.)
New Hampshire’s Site Evaluation Committee voted 7-0 after a three-day hearing to reject Northern Pass after expressing concerns that the 192-mile HVDC line would have negative impact on property values, tourism and land use, the Concord Monitor reported. However, committee members acknowledged the $1.6 billion project would boost tax revenues, reduce electric rates and create jobs in the communities along the corridor, the paper said.
“At a minimum, it appears today’s development requires re-evaluation of the selection of Northern Pass,” said Chloe Gotsis, a spokeswoman for Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, the Associated Press reported. “The attorney general’s office remains committed to an open and transparent review and we will be following this closely.”
The final decision, which came earlier than expected, is likely to spur an appeal from Eversource, which said it was “shocked and outraged” at the outcome of the yearslong process.
“The process failed to comply with New Hampshire law and did not reflect the substantial evidence on the record,” the company said in a statement. “As a result, the most viable near-term solution to the region’s energy challenges, as well as $3 billion of N.H. job, tax and other benefits, are now in jeopardy.”
Eversource said it would seek reconsideration of the decision and review other options for continuing the project.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 104 “decried” the decision and said it “looked forward” to working with Eversource to advance the project.
“Today’s actions by the N.H. Site Evaluation Committee to deny a permit to Northern Pass are a major disappointment to the working families of New England. After years of collecting evidence and data, in the end it appears that the SEC made their decision based on special interest opinions and not the facts,” the IBEW said in a statement.
Project opponents lauded the committee’s decision.
“The people of New Hampshire rejected the unreasonable burden of international transmission lines proposed by Eversource and Hydro-Québec,” said Catherine Corkery, chapter director of the New Hampshire Sierra Club. “The Site Evaluation Committee heard our objections to Northern Pass because it would ruin our landscapes, small towns and forests.”
“Northern Pass has bullied its way through this process, and today’s decision says loud and clear that the people of New Hampshire won’t stand for it,” Conservation Law Foundation attorney Melissa Birchard said. “The committee served us well. It heard the overwhelming opposition of towns and communities, and it rejected Northern Pass’s false claims that New Hampshire’s properties, tourism industry and treasured resources would be unmarred by this proposal.”
In commending the SEC decision, RENEW Northeast urged Massachusetts “to reconsider the dozens of other bids to bring new renewable generation to the region.” The nonprofit said Northern Pass and its associated energy from Hydro-Québec would have cost state ratepayers $500 million annually for 20 years.
“Despite this high cost, it would only bring energy from old generation rather than from new renewable resources that can enable Massachusetts to achieve its required greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” the group said.
