Skip to main content

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests

Get our e-news!

Sign up

small nav

  • About Us
    • Staff
    • Board of Trustees
    • Our History
    • Contact Us
    • COVID-19 Updates
    • Partners
    • Business Members
    • Annual Reports
    • Bylaws
    • Policies
    • Conservation Center
    • Employment
  • log in
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Main menu

  • What we do
    • Land Conservation
    • Education & Events
    • Advocacy
    • Forestry & Recreation
    • News & Features
    • Forest Notes & More Publications
  • Current Projects
    • Mount Major Stewardship Fund
    • Forest Society North at The Rocks Campaign
    • Clay Brook Forest, Hampton Falls
    • Stillhouse Forest Addition, Northfield
    • Moose Mountains Expansion
    • Merrimack: River at Risk
    • Morrill Dairy Farm, Boscawen
    • Weeks Woods - Rene and Elizabeth Gilbert Tract, Gilford
  • Visit & Explore
    • The Rocks
    • Conservation Center
    • Forest Reservation Guide
  • Get Involved
    • Upcoming Events
    • Membership/Renewal
    • Support Our Work
    • Take Action
    • Volunteer
    • Subscribe to E-news
  • Search

Search form

Donate
Menu

News

  • Rising to the Occasion: How A Grassroots Effort Ultimately Defeated Northern Pass

    Nancy Martland
    January 30, 2020

    There were so many acts of opposition, large and small, that wove a varied tapestry conveying the unmistakable message of resistance and tenacity.

  • Northern Pass Plans Appeal to Supreme Court

    July 13, 2018

    CONCORD — Northern Pass officials plan to file an appeal with the state Supreme Court by an Aug. 13 deadline in an effort to jump-start a hydroelectric transmission project that a state committee denied.

    The Site Evaluation Committee on Thursday issued a 72-page written decision that ...

    Read more
  • SEC Denies Motion for Rehearing in Writing

    Jack Savage
    July 12, 2018

    The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Commitee (SEC) issued its anticipated written decision denying a Motion for Rehearing requested by Eversource ...

Concord Adamant About Burial of Northern Pass Power Lines

by David Brooks, Concord Monitor
July 8, 2017
Northern Pass
Northern Pass at SEC
For more information about the City of Concord's response to the Northern Pass proposal, visit http://concordnh.gov/northernpass.

State hearings on the Northern Pass project have been going on for two and a half months now, but Concord hasn’t heard anything to change its opinion that the power lines should be buried as they travel through the city.

City officials might even be more adamant about burying lines because of a hike in proposed tower heights near Interstate 393, following Department of Transportation concerns.

“The city’s position is still that the line should be buried through the city. The city council has said that if Eversource is unwilling to bury it, the application should be denied as proposed,” said Danielle Pacik, deputy city attorney, representing Concord in the Site Evaluation Committee hearings.

The city added a Northern Pass-specific page, concordnh.gov/northernpass, to its official website this week. It urges city residents to contact the Site Evaluation Committee so they can comment in person at the next public hearings – at 49 Donovan St. in Concord on July 20 – or at future hearings.

The trial-like proceedings, with scores of witnesses each questioned by multiple sides, started April 13 and are expected to continue at least through August. They will determine whether the state approves the application from Eversource and HydroQuebec to build a 192-mile transmission line from Pittsburg to Deerfield.

While burying the power lines is the city’s preference, Pacik added, it’s possible that an alternative could meet its concerns about the line’s effect in Concord. “If Eversource is willing to come up with an alternative that has significantly less impact, the city would be willing to take a look at it,” she said.

Eversource has not changed its proposal for the project, which involves towers 100 feet tall or taller carrying 1,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power – almost the output of Seabrook Station nuclear plant – from Quebec into the New England grid. About 60 miles of the lines in the North Country would be buried.

Towers carrying the line over an I-393 bridge could be as tall as 160 feet because of concerns from the state Department of Transportation. The DOT wants enough clearance to use cranes on the bridge for possible construction. Similar concerns led Unitil to shift some power lines away from the bridge.

At 160 feet, those towers would be the tallest along the entire route and taller than the State House dome.

Click below read the full story by David Brooks in the Concord Monitor.

Concord Adamant about Burial of Northern Pass Power Lines

Footer menu

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
Land Trust Alliance accreditation logo