BOSTON – The Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board has tentatively approved a request for NSTAR, a Bay State electric and gas company, to build a new, 18-mile underground transmission line that would allow Boston to tap into the Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts electricity supply.
The draft decision will be voted on by the full Siting Board on Jan. 13. Construction would begin in early 2005, and the new 345,000-volt (or 345kV) line would be in service by summer of 2006, when the region’s electric demand is expected to be higher than ever.
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In a news release, NSTAR said the new line would “significantly improve” the reliability of the transmission system that serves families and businesses in northeastern Massachusetts and the Greater Boston area.
Currently, several lower-voltage transmission lines and a single 345kV line serve the area from the north. The project is a key component in a series of improvements needed because customers’ demand for electricity is projected to exceed available capacity in coming years, NSTAR said.
“The tentative approval of this line is great news for NSTAR customers and electricity users all over New England,” said Thomas J. May, president, chairman and CEO of the utility. “This line will help secure our region’s future electric supply by adding much-needed capacity to our existing system.”
The project will also reduce the area’s reliance on local, high-cost power generating plants, NSTAR said. A study by ISO New England recommends adding new power lines like the new 345kV line, to the regional system to meet future growth in electricity use and to offset the potential retirement of local plants. Consumer demand for electricity has increased by 20 percent over the past several years. This growth is expected to continue into 2006 and beyond.
NSTAR transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million customers in Eastern and Central Massachusetts, including over 1 million electric customers in 81 communities and nearly 300,000 gas customers in 51 communities.
