wiredinUSA March 2015

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wiredInUSA - March 2015 wiredInUSA - March 2015 19 18
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.
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.
Power lines
get the vote
i I
wiredInUSA - February 2015
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