STATE

Maine project picked as backup plan for energy

Michael P. Norton, State House News Service
Nick Paul, left, of Concord, and Tim Madsen, of Manchester, protest last April with a group Protect the Granite State outside a hearing for the Northern Pass project in Concord, N.H. [File Photo/The Associated Press]

BOSTON - The Baker administration and electric utilities have tipped their hand on their backup plan to bring hydropower from Canada and help the Massachusetts meet its statutory renewable energy commitments.

After New Hampshire regulators shot down their first choice, Northern Pass Hydro, officials have agreed to potentially pursue a major contract with the 140-mile New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project in Maine, which would feed the regional power grid, including Massachusetts.

Utilities and regulators in Massachusetts are essentially giving executives behind the Northern Pass project until March 27 to reverse a Feb. 1 decision by officials in New Hampshire, which denied that project the approvals needed to advance.

The latest decision appears aimed at ensuring that a major contract called for under a 2016 renewable energy law stays on track for an April 25 submission, either with the original contract winner or the runner-up in a major procurement that drew 46 bids.

AVANGRID Inc. and its subsidiary Central Maine Power Company say its $950 million NECEC project will provide an above-ground link between the electrical grids in Quebec and New England and say they have "strong support" from government and business officials in Maine.

Central Maine Power says it expects to receive state approvals later this year and final federal permits in early 2019.

"A new transmission link between Maine and Quebec would deliver a reliable, firm supply of clean energy to help dampen seasonal price instability when high demand puts pressure on natural gas supplies," Bob Kump, president and CEO of Avangrid Networks Inc., parent corporation of CMP, said in a statement.

Eversource Energy, which is teamed with Hydro-Quebec behind the 192-mile Northern Pass project that would run transmission through the White Mountains, said the latest development "strikes a sensible balance by allowing negotiations with Northern Pass to continue, while establishing a backup protocol that can be initiated if necessary."

Eversource and Northern Pass Hydro are pressing for a rehearing by the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee, whose counsel previously said project proponents "failed to prove" transmission lines "will not unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region."

"We have a strong legal argument for a reconsideration by the SEC. There is a path forward," Eversource said in a statement late Friday.

Although decisions were made on Thursday, according to the Department of Energy Resources, the Baker administration announced its backup plan for the major energy procurement at 5:10 p.m. on Friday.

In a statement, Peter Lorenz, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said "the Baker-Polito administration is pleased that with today's announcement the Commonwealth is progressing toward securing the largest amount of renewable energy in Massachusetts' history."