wiredinUSA November 2014

INDEX

MAKING THENEWS

The $1 billion cable A NextEra Energy proposal to bring energy into the Boston area would involve the seabed burial of the 68-mile 520MW transmission line, at a cost of around one billion dollars. The proposal is competing with a cheaper alternative to run just 25 miles of transmission line, while making other upgrades to help supply power to the area, and for $350 million less than than the seabed option. Burying transmission lines is an expensive operation, and NextEra subsidiary New Hampshire Transmission must convince regulators and lawmakers that the added reliability is worth the extra cost. National Grid and Northeast Utilities are partnering on an alternative proposal that would cost substantially less, and both companies have a targeted completion date of 2018.

The Boston Globe spoke with Boston's chief of environment, Brian Swett, who said reliability was a factor in the decision. “My concern as the energy official in Boston is not only how much my ratepayers are paying, but how reliable is that grid – what’s the percentage that it’s on during storms?” Swett told the Globe. “Down time costs my constituents, and my taxpayers, money.” NextEra is arguing that the competing proposal would need to take some active power lines offline during construction and system upgrades, meaning more expensive power will need to be purchased. NextEra believes that the final price tag on the National Grid-Northeast Utilities proposal could be substantially higher than advertised.

wiredInUSA - November 2014 iredInUSA - October 2014

wiredInUSA - November 2014

9

8