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Massachusetts sets deadline for decision on blocked NH power line

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Massachusetts sets deadline for decision on blocked NH power line

Massachusetts has given Eversource Energy and two other electric utility members of a clean energy selection committee a week's notice to decide if Eversource's Northern Pass transmission proposal is still viable after New Hampshire officials refused to grant the project a needed siting permit.

In a Feb. 2 letter, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Judith Judson asked fellow solicitation committee members, Eversource, National Grid USA and Unitil Corp., to decide by Feb. 9 on whether to stick with Northern Pass as the winning bid for a 20-year contract or consider alternative projects.

Responding to Massachusetts' solicitation for 9.45 TWh per year of low- or carbon-free electricity, Eversource proposed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by building a 192-mile-long underground and above-ground power transmission line to import up to 1,090 MW of Canadian hydroelectric power from Hydro-Québec through New Hampshire into ISO New England's regional market.

However, after the selection committee Jan. 25 decided the $1.6 billion Northern Pass project backers submitted the sole winning bid out of more than 45 transmission and renewable projects, the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee voted unanimously Feb. 1 to deny Northern Pass' siting application. The developers failed to show that the project would not "unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region," the New Hampshire committee reasoned.

Analysts are pessimistic that Eversource can successfully appeal or litigate the unfavorable siting decision. Since a lengthy appeal process would also threaten meeting the energy procurement's in-service date before the end of 2020, Judson also asked the electric distribution companies to determine what steps Eversource will take next, estimate the "likelihood of success" of an appeal and provide an updated project timeline.