The U.S. Department of Energy has recommended the Northern Pass project receive a presidential permit — a key approval step for the transmission project and a major step toward creating more than a thousand construction jobs in the New England area.
An “impact statement” was released Aug. 10 by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability in conjunction with other governmental agencies.
That led the DOE to award the presidential permit, which allows Northern Pass Transmissions, LLC to proceed with the permit process on the proposed 200-mile transmission line to carry 1,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power from Hydro-Quebec in Canada through New Hampshire.
While not the final step in the approval process, the permit is a key step in the process that started in October 2010.
In addition to its Presidential permit application to the DOE, Northern Pass, LLC applied to the U.S. Forestry Service for a special use permit that would authorize Northern Pass, LCC to construct, own, operate and maintain an electric transmission line to cross portions of the White Mountain National Forest under its jurisdiction.
Clearing the hurdle of this impact statement allows the much-needed project to move forward.
With the Presidential Permit approved, Northern Pass Transmissions, LLC will begin applying for all remaining permits needed to begin construction.
IBEW Local 104 supports Northern Pass for many reasons, including the work opportunities for our members during the construction phase, as well as the addition of an estimated $28 million in taxes for the New Hampshire economy every year.
“The Northern Pass project will provide work for hundreds of highly trained, local electrical workers and IBEW Local 104 appreciates the timely, thorough work undertaken by the U.S. Department of Energy, and the department’s focus on facts over rhetoric,” said Brian Murphy, Local 104 Business Manager.
Northern Pass is expected to be operational and able to provide hydroelectric power to the New England grid by 2020.
The entire Department of Energy Final Environmental Impact Statement Summary can be found online.