SEC Subcommittee Set to Deliberate on Northern Pass

Twelve Days of Decision-making

Jack Savage | January 18, 2018

The Site Evaluation Committee that will discuss and issue a decision on Northern Pass is made up of seven members. The SEC's attorney and its administrator, included in this photo, do not vote on the application.

The New Hamphire Site Evaluation Committee will be convening on twelve days in late January and February to deliberate the Northern Pass application for a Certificate of Site and Facility. These deliberations are open to the public, and all those interested in the outcome of the proposed 192-mile transmission line are encouraged to attend. These sessions will occur at 49 Donovan Street in Concord, NH (where the adjudicative hearings have taken place.)

Deliberations will begin at 9 a.m. and are scheduled for twelve days over four weeks:

Week One:  Tuesday Jan. 30, Wednesday Jan. 31, Thursday Feb. 1.

Week Two: Tuesday Feb. 6, Thursday Feb. 8, Friday Feb. 9.

Week Three: Thursday Feb. 15, Friday Feb. 16.

Week Four: Tuesday Feb. 20, Wednesday Feb. 21, Thursday Feb. 22, Friday Feb. 23.

This is not an opportunity for the public to offer any input. Rather, this is the chance for the SEC subcommittee that has read pre-filed testimony,  listened to many days of cross-examination of witnesses, listened to public comment, and read many briefs filed by intervenors and the applicant, to discuss in public amongst themselves whether Northern Pass met the legal standards required. 

It is a chance for the public to hear the deliberations as they occur and find out to what extent the SEC has heard the overwhelming oppostion to the project as proposed.

In order to receive a Certificate of Site and Facility, Northern Pass must prove that:


       (a) The applicant has adequate financial, technical, and managerial capability to assure construction and operation of the facility in continuing compliance with the terms and conditions of the certificate. 
       (b) The site and facility will not unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region with due consideration having been given to the views of municipal and regional planning commissions and municipal governing bodies. 
       (c) The site and facility will not have an unreasonable adverse effect on aesthetics, historic sites, air and water quality, the natural environment, and public health and safety. 
       (e) Issuance of a certificate will serve the public interest. "

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE SITE EVALUATION COMMITTEE

Docket No. 2015-06

Re: Joint Application of Northern Pass Transmission LLC and Public Service Company of New Hampshire d/b/a Eversource Energy for a Certificate of Site and Facility

November 21, 2017

NOTICE OF DELIBERATIONS

The hearings in this docket are scheduled to conclude no later than December 22, 2017. A Procedural Order was issued on September 12, 2017, that established the schedule for filing final briefs. Public deliberations in this docket are hereby scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m., on the following dates: January 30 and 31; and February 1, 6, 8, 9, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, and 23. The deliberations will be held at 49 Donovan Street, Concord, NH, and are open to the public. While the deliberations are open to the public, testimony and public comment will not be taken during the meeting.

SO ORDERED this twenty-first day of November, 2017.

Martin P. Honigberg, Presiding Officer Site Evaluation Committee