New Hampshire denies Canadian hydrpower transmission project
A permit that the Northern Pass project had been counting on was denied by New Hampshire site evaluators on Thursday, jeopardizing the Bay State's newly minted plan to transmit hydropower from Quebec to Massachusetts.
The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee's (SEC) unanimous vote occurred a week after Massachusetts officials and utilities selected the project – a joint effort of Eversource and Hydro-Quebec to run transmission through the White Mountains – after a major renewable energy procurement.
A Baker administration spokesman said the selection of Northern Pass was "conditional on necessary siting approvals" and Bay State officials will continue to monitor developments in New Hampshire.
Project proponents "failed to prove" the transmission lines "will not unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region," according to Mike Iacopino, counsel to the committee.
"We are shocked and outraged by today's SEC outcome," Eversource Energy said in a statement. "The process failed to comply with New Hampshire law and did not reflect the substantial evidence on the record. As a result, the most viable near-term solution to the region's energy challenges, as well as $3 billion of NH job, tax, and other benefits, are now in jeopardy."
The applicant can file for a rehearing and reconsideration with the SEC and could also have an opportunity to appeal to the state's Supreme Court, Iacopino told the News Service. Eversource said it would seek reconsideration and will review "all options for moving this critical clean energy project forward."
Running 192 miles from the north of the state, the $1.6 billion Northern Pass project would carry more than 1,000 megawatts of hydropower from Canada to New England. Massachusetts officials and utilities selected the project to fulfill one of two major renewable energy procurements authorized under a 2016 law.
Environmentalists objected to the effect the transmission line would have on New Hampshire's wilderness, and rivals of Gov. Charlie Baker knocked the administration's selection of Northern Pass – noting that Eversource was both a decision-maker and beneficiary of the decision.
"Today's decision by a New Hampshire state authority to deny Eversource's Northern Pass application underscores what an incredibly bad decision Charlie Baker's administration made in giving away the state's largest renewable energy procurement to Eversource," Democrat Jay Gonzalez, who hopes to challenge Baker in November, said in a statement. "Just one week after the Baker administration hand-picked Eversource's Northern Pass as the sole winner of the procurement, passing over 45 other proposals, a New Hampshire board voted unanimously to shut the project down. This is a clear example of Governor Baker rewarding wealthy donors and putting his own political and financial interests ahead of the people of Massachusetts."
Northern Pass was one of the bids submitted under provisions laid out in a 2016 energy diversification law that called for roughly 1,200 megawatts of clean energy generation and 1,600 megawatts of offshore renewable energy. An independent evaluator, Peregrine Consulting, oversaw the selection.
"Massachusetts' recently selected clean energy procurement project remains conditional on necessary siting approvals and [the Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs] will continue to monitor and evaluate developments in New Hampshire as the administration works to ensure a clean and affordable energy future that progresses toward greenhouse gas emissions reductions," said Peter Lorenz, communications director for the office.
Last Thursday Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Judith Judson touted the Northern Pass project when state officials announced the results of the renewable energy procurement.
"It rose to the top in terms of net benefit to consumers as well as its ability to quickly deliver clean energy to the Commonwealth," Judson said of the project, which had been due to begin service in December 2020.
"Public reports suggest that Northern Pass committed to delivering hydroelectric power to Massachusetts in 2020. The vote from the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee raises serious questions about this timetable," Attorney General Maura Healey's spokeswoman Chloe Gotsis said in a statement. "At a minimum, it appears today’s development requires reevaluation of the selection of Northern Pass. The Attorney General’s Office remains committed to an open and transparent review and we will be following this closely."
Eversource does not have a new timeline in light of the permit rejection. The site evaluation review process in New Hampshire began in October 2015, according to the utility.
"Clearly, the SEC process is broken and this decision sends a chilling message to any energy project contemplating development in the Granite State," Eversource said.
The Conservation Law Foundation cheered the decision by New Hampshire's regulators.
"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," said Melissa Birchard, an attorney for the foundation, in a statement. She said, "The Baker administration now has the opportunity to get this selection right by immediately choosing the best and most qualified project to put the state's critical clean energy purchase back on track."
Judson had earlier said the next stage in the process would be contract negotiations, and Gov. Charlie Baker this week said he expected the Department of Public Utilities to hold a hearing on the deal in April.
"The people of New Hampshire rejected the unreasonable burden of international transmission lines proposed by Eversource and Hydro Quebec. The Site Evaluation Committee heard our objections to Northern Pass because it would ruin our landscapes, small towns, and forests," said Cathy Corkery, chapter director of New Hampshire Sierra Club, in a statement. "New Hampshire Sierra Club would like to recognize all of the people who stood up against the Northern Pass in New Hampshire and our dear friends of the Pessamit Innu First Nation who opened our eyes to the destruction of their land and culture by Hydro Quebec."
Emily Norton, chapter director of Massachusetts Sierra Club, said the rejection of Northern Pass gives Baker a chance to pick a different clean energy project.
"This decision gives Governor Baker the perfect opportunity to pick better clean energy projects that deliver more jobs and economic benefits for Massachusetts families and businesses," Norton said. "Wind and solar power within New England would do more to provide the affordable, reliable, and truly clean energy that we need.
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