The eminent domain issue aside, there is absolutely no mistaking that the Northern Pass Project to build transmission lines that will bring clean, affordable hydroelectric power into New Hampshire will create jobs … and Local 104 members from NEW HAMPSHIRE and all over New England will be able to fill many of those positions.
A local economist, Lisa Shapiro of Concord, did her own economic study to find that Northern Pass will create 1,200 to 1,500 jobs.
Among much of the controversy over the project, the New England Power Generators Association — which, interestingly, represents many of the power generators in the region and therefore is opposed to the project for their own financial reasons — is wrongly claiming Northern Pass will not create that many jobs (though it did admit it WILL create jobs!).
But Ms. Shapiro pointed out many errors in the Association’s thinking … most notably that its study used a “theoretical estimate of the project’s cost rather than the actual expense Northern Pass officials plan to incur” and it “left out construction jobs associated with the project, including the creation of 20 miles of roads and the logging needed to create new transmission corridors.”
The study also wrongly assumes that particular out-of-state contractors will be hired and that any out-of-state firms would hire someone other than in-state workers.
Martin Murray, Northern Pass spokesman, in a newspaper article discounted the findings as biased. “You have to consider the source,” he said of the New England Power Generators Association. “It’s not surprising that this group is opposing Northern Pass and looking again for something to try to stop the project from succeeding.”
In the end, Northern Pass will create many, much-needed jobs for the state, the region and IBEW Local 104 skilled linemen. That is why Local 104 supports the New Hampshire Coalition for Secure Energy … because we also believe in secure JOBS for New England and New Hampshire!
Please SIGN THE NHCSE PETITION to show your support for New Hampshire and the Northern Pass Project!
This project will not only create jobs but also careers in a great industry.