wiredinUSA March 2015

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Power lines get the vote

The operator of New England’s electricitygridhas endorseda$740 million plan by the region’s two largest utilities to build new power lines between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, rejecting a competing proposal using an underwater cable. ISO New England, administrator of the region’s electricity market, said the overland route proposed by National Grid and Eversource Energy was superior to the proposed “SeaLink” cable “in most ways” and will cost $260 million less. The grid operator also urged the new transmission lines, which were proposed three years ago, be built quickly to avoid the risk of rolling blackouts. National Grid and Eversource Energy, the new name for NStar and its parent companyNortheast Utilities, called the decision a “win-win.” The companies plan to builda25-milepower linebetween Londonderry, New Hampshire and Tewksbury, add new lines from Wakefield through Woburn to Everett, and increase the capacity of power lines between Tewksbury and Wilmington.

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The proposals for new power lines came after a 2010 study by ISO New England concluded the Boston area would need more transmission lines because of the shutdown of the Salem Harbor power plant, a process that concluded last summer. The cost of either project would ultimately be borne by ratepayers. In its analysis, the ISO said the high voltagecables wouldbecheaper to install and more reliable to operate inall but themost extreme circumstances, such as the total failure of an electrical substation. The project would be completed by 2018.

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