wiredinUSA November 2014

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9 wiredInUSA - November 2014
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.