This week, the Monitor published a “My Turn” from my friend and colleague on the New Hampshire House Science and Technology Committee regarding proposed Massachusetts legislation that might affect Northern Pass (Monitor Forum, July 27).
I don’t know if Herb Richardson had overdosed on his favorite Moxie or, perhaps, spent a little too much time in the sun that day, but his perspective is downside up from the vast majority of the testimony I have heard before our committee and at other public hearings.
Herb’s concern was directed at the possibility that Massachusetts might pass legislation requiring imported hydropower be supplied via buried transmission lines. His view is the burial requirement would have a negative impact on New Hampshire’s economy.
Actually the overwhelming and compelling evidence from both citizens and experts has been that the opposite is the far more likely outcome.
Drive along the proposed Northern Pass and the consequences will become self evident. This drive will take you through some of the most beautiful and wild country remaining in New England. You will be inspired and refreshed.
The desire to share this experience is the cornerstone of the northern New Hampshire economy.
Would this experience be negatively affected by a parallel path of skyscraper scaled transmission towers set in a clear-cut path twice the width of the tower’s height?
While it is true that the Republican-controlled New Hampshire Legislature has not been, shall we say, assertive in protecting our environment, it is not true that no action has been taken encouraging alternative solutions to power transmission.
In fact, legislation recognizing the “potential adverse impacts on the state’s most scenic natural landscapes, the value of adjoining and nearby private properties, and the comfort, health, and safety of adjacent homeowners” was passed this year establishing energy corridors and new processes to facilitate their usage.
Northern New England’s wild country is a regional treasure. So I am pleased to hear that it is being so recognized in Massachusetts.
After all, when Northern Pass is in production, 90 percent of the power will be consumed outside New Hampshire in the energy hubs of eastern Massachusetts and western Connecticut.
How would burial impact rates?
I have repeatedly challenged Northern Pass to prove any negative rate impact by burial. My contention is wholesale prices will continue to be set by the market, and prices in New England are almost always dictated by the cost of natural gas on any given day.
Northern Pass will need to match that price to sell their power. Given the low incremental cost of Hydro-Quebec’s surplus power and the marginal cost of burial, this should be easily achieved.
Yes, their profit margin might not be quite as high, but a full burial plan is far more likely to bring this project to production expeditiously and that would benefit us all.
We live in times when so many daily decisions are clouded by complexities. This is a case where the choice is oh so clear, for those willing to see.
And it is critical that we make a wise decision because the consequences will span generations.
(Rep. Bill Baber, a Dover Democrat, is the ranking member of the New Hampshire House Science, Technology and Energy Committee.)