We share the concerns that ISO-New England and others have expressed. With our over-reliance on natural gas now threatening the reliability of the region’s energy grid, the need for the Northern Pass project is clear, and we are working hard to advance the project so that it will help to address this critical issue.

The project’s top priorities in developing a new route have and continue to be to bring forth the best proposal for New Hampshire, and to address the concerns raised with our first routing proposal regarding the project’s potential effect on views. Our work to achieve these goals continues.

Although we have identified a new route which meets our project requirements, we believe it is in the best of interest of landowners, communities, and all stakeholders for us to continue to build on the details of this proposal and to take the time now to make some additional refinements before we begin the formal public review processes at both the state and federal levels.

It is clear now, more than ever, that the region needs new sources of clean, low cost power to diversify our power supply and secure our energy future. The Northern Pass will help to provide that energy diversity, while creating new jobs and tax revenue for New Hampshire – all at no cost to customers.

Instead, NEPGA turned a blind eye to this serious threat to our energy future and continued its attack on a real solution – Northern Pass.  Why would NEPGA be opposed to adding 1200 MW of clean, base load energy to New Hampshire and the region? At a time when regulators, policy makers and customers are looking for solutions to our long-term energy needs, NEPGA appears to be looking out for its bottom line. NEPGA’s own fact sheet boasts that it controls more than 84 percent of all New England’s existing generation. It’s clear that Northern Pass concerns NEPGA because the clean hydro-power the project will deliver will displace the more expensive fossil fuels produced by NEPGA’s members.

Diversifying the region’s energy portfolio must be a part of our energy future if we are to address the significant challenges ISO-New England has identified. The clean, renewable, low cost, hydroelectric power of Northern Pass will provide New Hampshire and New England with energy diversity, while lowering energy costs and creating new jobs and tax revenue for New Hampshire.

In a Sunday news story, Vamsi Chadalavada, ISO-NE Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, told Dave Solomon of the New Hampshire Union Leader that ISO had come close to imposing blackouts due to constraints on the supply of natural gas that fuels most the region’s power plants.

“If we had lost one more big generator or a transmission line, we would have had to resort to our emergency procedures,” said Vamsi Chadalavada, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Independent System Operator of the New England power grid (ISO-NE), based in Holyoke, Mass. “Those procedures are to call on help from neighboring areas, then to call for voluntary conservation, and if that’s not sufficient, to institute controlled power outages … We came quite close.”

In another Sunday news story, Nashua Telegraph writer David Brooks reported similar comments from New Hampshire Public Utilities Commissioner Michael Harrington, who stated, “This was a normal January and February, yet we came very close to having rolling blackouts. What happens if we have a very cold winter? We could be in trouble.”

While this issue of New England’s over-reliance on natural gas has been making news since last summer, it’s clear the close call the region experienced this winter is bringing this issue into greater focus.

Diversifying the region’s energy portfolio must be a major component of any solution to address this issue, as well as considering New England’s pipeline capacity. Northern Pass will not only bring diversity to the region’s energy portfolio, but will also drive down energy costs while creating jobs and millions in new tax revenues in New Hampshire. Given the short term risks to the grid that are now becoming apparent, the ability for Northern Pass be in operation as soon as late 2016 to mid-2017 provides further value to New England.

It is interesting to consider this recent news and the prospect of blackouts in New England at a time when some continue to claim Northern Pass is not needed. The facts tell a different story. More than ever, we need new sources of clean, low cost power to diversify our power supply and secure our energy future. Simply put, energy diversity equals energy security. Northern Pass will help provide that diversity to our energy portfolio while creating new jobs and tax revenue for New Hampshire – all at no cost to customers.

We also recognize that while we are communicating with local citizens, stakeholders and public officials across New Hampshire, there is still much that can be done.  We believe this communication and dialogue is critical to the ultimate success of the new route and the project overall and felt it was necessary to take some additional time to continue these efforts before we publicly announce the new routing proposal.

Some notable project improvements thus far include the improved structure design along the White Mountain National Forest portion of the route, enabling the project to reduce structure heights to approximately 85 feet, with no expansion of the existing right of way.  Additionally, structures along the new right-of-way portion of the route will also be approximately 85 feet.

We are appreciative of the positive support we have received from all across the state, and are very proud to have the full endorsement of the two largest Chambers of Commerce in New Hampshire (Manchester and Nashua).  Our recent jobs meetings in Coös County were an enormous success, and we look forward to resuming those meetings in the new year, along with informational outreach meetings across the state.

We are optimistic that our new routing proposal addresses the potential view shed and private property concerns that have been raised, and will enable us to move forward with the rigorous state and federal permitting processes.  Those proceedings will serve as inclusive forums for the continued evolution of the project, providing a true measure and analysis of the benefits and impacts of the Northern Pass, as well as the opportunity for project improvements to be recommended and incorporated.

This follows a vote last month by the Commission members to adopt a draft report authored by the NH State Department of Transportation (NHDOT). That version of the report omitted controversial language from the original draft which had drawn criticism from State officials and members of the business community.

In the final report, the commission voted overwhelmingly against two recommendations:

• Recommending legislation to require merchant electric transmission projects submit an alternative proposal using underground.
• Recommending legislation to enact a one year moratorium on any new merchant electric transmission projects.

Members pointed out that both of these recommendations were well outside the mission and scope of the commission. Additionally, we believe these recommendations would result in costly and unintended consequences for New Hampshire consumers and businesses.

The Commission’s findings include input from NHDOT on what possible corridor options currently exist. While the findings state it may be possible to place energy infrastructure in these designated corridors, the commission ultimately could not speak to whether such plans are economically feasible or whether they are technologically and environmentally sound ideas. The Commission also points out that these questions are often “typically site and project-specific.”

We look forward to continued discussions regarding New Hampshire’s energy future. Northern Pass will not only move us toward a renewable energy future, but will also reduce energy costs for customers and increase the diversity of our energy portfolio. We look forward to continuing our work with communities, policymakers, and other stakeholders to address concerns and determine the best path forward.

In his commentary, Williams cites the need for fuel diversity, lower energy costs, and clean energy as the key drivers behind the Chamber’s support for the project:

“This project is anticipated to bring lower-cost energy to New Hampshire that is environmentally sound and provides more diversity to New England’s long-term energy landscape.”

The Greater Nashua Chamber joins the Greater Manchester Chamber in supporting Northern Pass. The Greater Nashua and Manchester Chambers are the two largest Chambers in New Hampshire.

These comments follow more recent warnings from ISO that our growing over-reliance on natural gas as a fuel for generating electricity is a major challenge for the region. In a July column in Commonwealth magazine, van Welie, noted “It’s evident that generating electricity with natural gas has its benefits. But becoming heavily reliant on just one fuel poses challenges to the long-term stability of the power system.”

Meeting these future challenges requires planning and action now. Northern Pass represents an ideal solution for New Hampshire and the region by not only diversifying our energy portfolio, but also lowering our energy costs and reducing carbon emissions, with no customer subsidy required.

The Coös County Democrat is reporting today that the project has finalized a lease agreement with Wagner Forest Management related to the project’s ongoing efforts to secure a new route.

We can confirm the accuracy of this report and that the project has finalized a major land agreement with Wagner as part of its efforts to optimize route options through northern New Hampshire. This agreement can support more than 20 miles of the project’s corridor through the eastern portion of northern Coös County.

PSNH President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Long offered the following comment on the agreement:

“Over the past year, we’ve made steady progress in securing the land needed for a new route by working with willing landowners. Finalizing this agreement is a huge step for the project and brings us closer to our goal of delivering clean, low-cost hydropower to the region’s energy grid while providing New Hampshire with hundreds of new jobs and millions in new tax revenue. This project not only brings significant economic benefits to our state, but will also have a tremendous environmental impact as well by removing 5 million tons of carbon from our atmosphere. I’d like to thank Wagner Forest Management for their willingness to help move this incredible project for our state and region forward, while still preserving this property for sustainable forestry.”

Wagner Forest Management, based in Lyme, NH is a forest management and investment organization that manages 2.7 million acres of forest in northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Wagner President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Colgan commented:

“We are pleased this agreement will help bring a major new source of clean, renewable energy into New England in a way that complements our core forest management business.”

With 140 miles of existing PSNH right-of-way already identified for use by the project, Northern Pass has been focused on securing land north of Groveton, NH to the Canadian border for the remaining 40 miles of the project. Following the completion of land or easement acquisition, Northern Pass will expand and intensify its community outreach efforts and file an amended Presidential Permit application with the Department of Energy. Before beginning construction, Northern Pass must complete a rigorous federal and state permitting process, including approvals from the Department of Energy, U.S. Forest Service, and New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee.

The Commission opened last week’s meeting by discussing letters from the Manchester Chamber of Commerce and a representative of Northern Pass containing scathing reviews of the original draft report.

Numerous members of the Commission then offered their own criticisms of the report. Specifically, members rejected the following recommendations:

• A one-year moratorium on the development of new transmission project: The purpose of this provision was to prevent private development on privately owned property.  As the Manchester Chamber of Commerce explained in its letter to the Commission, a moratorium would, “freeze private investment in our state and stall [development] at a time when this investment is seen as critical to our economy, future economic expansion and lower electric costs.”

• A mandate that all merchant transmission lines be constructed underground: The Commission’s own record makes the case against a mandate. The NH Dept. of Administrative Services, in a letter to Commission members, stated, “There is no question that underground lines are expensive. DAS believes it should be an option but not mandated. Companies should evaluate on a project by project basis to consider monetary costs as well as social, environmental, and health related costs.” The Department of Environmental Services, in its own letter to the Commission, stressed that the Commission, “should resist being prescriptive in its recommendations…”

• A new pre-application process to precede the Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) process:Members of the Commission (some of whom sit on the SEC) rejected this attempt to add another layer of bureaucracy to what is already a robust and costly permitting process at both the state and federal levels.  The Manchester Chamber rightly points out that this provision would, “increase bureaucracy and costs, and drive energy development to other states.”

Northern Pass (NPT) appreciates that the Commission strongly rejected the report recommendations listed above.  As several members pointed out, those recommendations were beyond the scope of the Commission and threatened broader and costly consequences for New Hampshire consumers and businesses.  We support the effort by the Commission to identify potentially viable corridor options for future energy projects. NPT joins state officials and members of the business community in urging the Commission to continue to respect private property rights and avoid overreaching government provisions that will increase bureaucracy and inevitably result in higher electricity costs for New Hampshire citizens.