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The Governor's Office issue the following press release this afternoon:
CONCORD – Continuing her efforts to ensure an open public process that incorporates the views of local communities when considering proposed energy projects, Governor Maggie Hassan sent a letter today to the U.S Department of Energy (DOE), calling on the department to reschedule public hearings currently scheduled in December on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Northern Pass Project. The Governor’s letter also calls on DOE to schedule an additional public hearing in northern Coos County.
“The siting of large-scale energy transmission can have implications for decades to come, and we must ensure a thorough and transparent review of proposed projects so that the most impacted communities have the opportunity to be heard,” Governor Hassan wrote. “Rescheduling the December public hearings and including an additional public hearing in the northern part of the state will help ensure that all Granite Staters have an opportunity to attend and have their voices heard.”
Earlier this year, DOE issued a supplement to the draft environmental impact statement, extended the public comment period and delayed public hearings on the new preferred Northern Pass proposal. As a result of that extended timeline, public hearings for the supplemental Draft EIS have been scheduled during the week of December 14 in Whitefield, Concord and Plymouth.
The full text of the Governor’s letter is below:
November 19, 2015
The Honorable Patricia Hoffman
Assistant Secretary
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20585
RE: The Northern Pass Transmission Project EIS Public Hearings
Dear Assistant Secretary Hoffman:
I write to formally request that the U.S Department of Energy reschedule the December public comment hearings on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) for the proposed Northern Pass Project and include an additional public comment hearing in northern Coos County.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that the public comment hearings on the Draft EIS for the proposed Northern Pass Project would be held during the week of December 14 in Whitefield, Concord, and Plymouth, New Hampshire. I am concerned that the timing of the public comment hearings may be prohibitive for many citizens that had hoped to attend and present their comments. In addition, even the northern-most hearing location is more than a three-hour round trip for citizens in Clarkesville, Stewartstown and Pittsburg, areas that will be impacted by this route.
The siting of large-scale energy transmission can have implications for decades to come, and we must ensure a thorough and transparent review of proposed projects so that the most impacted communities have the opportunity to be heard. Rescheduling the December public hearings and including an additional public hearing in the northern part of the state will help ensure that all Granite Staters have an opportunity to attend and have their voices heard.
Thank you for your consideration.
With every good wish,
Margaret Wood Hassan
Governor