Skip to main content

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests

Get our e-news! Sign up

small nav

  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Staff
    • Board of Trustees
    • Our History
    • Employment
    • Conservation Center
    • FAQs
    • Partners
    • Business Members
    • Annual Reports
    • Bylaws
    • Policies
  • 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
    • Farming for the Future at Morrill Dairy Farm
    • Forest Society North at The Rocks Campaign
    • Mount Major Stewardship Fund
    • Recent Accomplishments
  • Visit & Explore
    • The Rocks
    • Conservation Center
    • Mount Major
    • Creek Farm
    • Forest Reservation Guide
    • Visitor Use Guidelines
  • Get Involved
    • Upcoming Events
    • Membership/Renewal
    • Support Our Work
    • Volunteer
    • Subscribe to E-news
  • Search

Search form

Donate
Menu

News

  • Déjà vu? Northern Pass is Back in the News

    Anna Berry
    December 13, 2022

    Several media outlets have covered the Governor's comments during the election season and post-election.

  • InDepthNH: "No Quick Fix To State’s Energy Woes"

    December 12, 2022

    Gov. Chris Sununu once again last week proposed a Northern Pass lite, high-voltage transmission system to bring now cheap HydroQuebec power to New Hampshire to offset spiking energy costs.

    Read more
  • InDepthNH: "Sununu Floats New ‘Version’ of Failed Northern Pass Hydro In Face of High Energy Costs"

    December 9, 2022

    Sununu made the comments at a meeting with the press.

    Read more

Understandable Anger in the Face of Arrogance

Colebrook News & Sentinel Editorial by Karen Ladd
April 27, 2016
Northern Pass

These days we’re flashing back to when people reacted with shock and anger to the initial proposal for the Northern Pass transmission line, as its recent alignment with the hoped-for Balsams redevelopment and the push for its Forward NH Fund have sparked a whole new wave of protest. Those who support or feel ambivalent about the Northern Pass project seem to have a hard time understanding why it generates so much venom.


While the vitriol has certainly made for an unpleasant atmosphere of late, it’s not really that hard to understand. People who feel like they’ve already been knocked down and kicked a few times don’t appreciate it when someone moves to step over them. Perfectly reasonable people might lose their tempers when a large corporation treats them with arrogance and condescension. And none of us appreciates having our intelligence insulted, or our consent taken as a foregone conclusion. 


All of this has happened over the past six years, since the line was first proposed in 2010. Eversource has revised its route since then, but that amounts to the sole concession on its side thus far—aside from burying the line through the White Mountain National Forest, of course, while declaring further burial through our own neck of the woods financially impossible. And yet now the company is touting the $200 million Forward NH Fund, which apparently represents extraneous profits from this project that Eversource would then give back to the community in grants.

 
It may surprise some executives to know that even for us little people here in the north, this is pretty basic math to figure out. The original proposal called for 40 miles of new right-of-way in Coös County, and the revised route buries eight of those miles, leaving us with 32. The company has stated it would cost an additional $5 million to $10 million per mile to bury the line, so let’s call that an average of $7.5 million. The Forward NH Fund’s $200 million, divided by 32 miles, breaks down to $6.25 million per mile. 


If the cost estimate for burial is high, then that $200 million should cover it. If not, then perhaps it’s a good starting point for negotiating what very few miles of line should remain above-ground, in remote areas where very few people would see them. 
Of course, that’s if we’re stuck with the Northern Pass coming our way at all, and we’re not nearly there yet.
--K.L.

Download the Forest Society Mobile App, powered by OuterSpatial

Available on the App Store
Get it on Google Play

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