Eversource sees Northen Pass as improbable, writes down costs

PROVIDENCE – Eversource has decided that the Northern Pass electricity transmission line is no longer probable, it disclosed in a U.S. Security and Exchange Commission filing Thursday. The proposed 1,090-megawatt line would have interconnected hydro-generated electricity from Canada to Massachusetts through New Hampshire.

The placement of the line came under scrutiny with challenges to its construction in New Hampshire. In 2018 the N.H. Supreme Court upheld a state Site Evaluation Committee decision to deny Eversource the permit to build a transmission line. The company said that following the early July Supreme Court decision, it determined that completion of the line is improbable.

Eversource said that the sunk project costs were roughly $318 million. The company said that it will result in a $240 million pretax impairment charge related to expenses for the project.

The project, if constructed, would have brought a significant amount of renewable energy into the New England electrical grid.

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The Northern Pass project is separate from a proposed transmission line for Western Maine called New England Clean Energy Connect. That project is proposed by Central Maine Power Co.

“We remain grateful to our energy partner, Hydro-Québec, for their longstanding commitment to supplying New England with clean, reliable hydropower. We also wish to thank project supporters, including New Hampshire’s business community, our union partner the IBEW and many others, with whom we worked closely over the years to bring this project’s benefits to our customers,” the company said in a statement. “The need for new sources of abundant, low-cost renewable energy in New England remains urgent, and we will continue working toward new, innovative solutions that lower costs for our customers, improve reliability and advance clean energy.”

Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. You may reach him at Bergenhiem@PBN.com.