Tagged: Northern Pass

After some North Country residents complained that U.S. Department of Energy contractors working on the Northern Pass project are trespassing on their land, Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte have sent a letter to the federal Department of Energy looking into it.

For much of the year officials at Northeast Utilities have been saying they would have the new route for Northern Pass submitted to the US Department of Energy by the end of the year.

But the New Year is here and while nothing has been posted with the DOE Northern Pass says it has a new route.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

In a conference call with analysts early in October Northeast Utilities official Lee Olivier said the company was “still on track” to file a new route with the Department of Energy by the end of the year.

Proposed energy projects are causing a stir among New Hampshire lawmakers. Lawmakers will consider a raft of bills that would change how the state considers and approves such installations.

Senator Kelly Ayotte says he North Country should have a major voice in what happens with the Northern Pass hydro-electric project.

Ayotte spoke about the project while in Pittsburg in the North Country on Friday for a town meeting.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen was there.

Pretty much the first issue raised with Sen. Kelly Ayotte was the Northern Pass project which – if approved – would probably cross the border near here.

“It seems to me you all should have the voice in this.”

A U.S. Department of Energy official has told Senator Jeanne Shaheen that the federal agency did nothing wrong in approving several contractors to work on the Northern Pass project, dismissing allegations to the contrary from the Conservation Law Foundation.

Shaheen wrote the DOE in mid-October saying she was concerned about allegations made by the foundation.

The CLF said it used the Freedom-of-Information Act to obtain a series of emails between the federal agency and a lawyer for Northern Pass.

Saying the North Country communities “possess unique strengths and face unique challenges” Governor-elect Maggie Hassan has appointed a North Country Priorities team.

The Northern Pass hydro-electric project has a new supporter: The Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber endorsed the project because it believes it will help lower energy bills for businesses, said the chamber’s president and CEO, J. Christopher Williams.

“We have a lot of our large and mid-size companies in southern New Hampshire who are very big consumers of electricity and we are watching our energy costs go up in the future and we are trying to find ways to alleviate that,” he said.

A North Country legislator is proposing a law that would require new electric utility lines to be located along existing highways.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

If Rep. Larry Rappaport’s bill become law, utility companies would be required – as much as possible - to put new electric transmission lines alongside state rights-of-way such as highways.

Rappaport, of Colebrook, contends that would have two benefits.

“The roads are already there."

 It would also help the state with its budget problems.