Champlain-Hudson Power Express: Safe & Secure Underground HVDC

 

 

It Can be Done!

A more secure, safe, environmentally sensitive and a less socially disruptive way to transmit HVDC power. 2,000 MW over 355 miles, as compared to Northeast's1200 MW over 140 miles. An energy corporation that collaborates with a maritime museum! It is not impossible, too expensive, lacking feasibility, out of the question....

 

 

02/23/2010

Alternative Clean Power Transmission Project Announced

Champlain-Hudson Power Express Will Deliver Safe, Secure, Affordable, Renewable Energy for the North East
Transmission Developers Inc. (TDI) today announced plans to develop an innovative power transmission line that will bring safe, secure, affordable, renewable power to New York and New England from the U.S.-Canadian border. The transmission power line, called the Champlain-Hudson Power Express (CHPE), will be a High Voltage direct current (HVdc) cable designed to principally run under waterways to minimize the impact to local communities and the environment. This project will deliver renewable power to meet growing energy demand, increase electric grid security and reduce consumer energy costs. Donald Jessome, President and CEO of TDI said, “One of the biggest challenges we face in the development of new renewable energy sources is safely and efficiently transporting that power from areas where it is created to markets where the power is most needed. This innovative project offers real opportunity to deliver low cost power to areas in need with minimal disruption to local communities and environments.”

Once all the necessary approvals are granted, TDI would install a 355 mile HVdc cable from Canada to the New York metro area. The cable route would follow major waterways, including the Hudson River and Lake Champlain, and an additional 65 mile underwater connection to Bridgeport, Connecticut. While the line will be principally placed underwater, it will be installed alongside existing rail right of ways in certain areas to avoid areas of Hudson River PCB dredging. The CHPE project will deliver up to 2,000 megawatts (MW) of clean hydroelectric and wind power now being targeted for development in Canada to help meet growing energy demands in the New York and New England markets. TDI has met with local elected officials, stakeholders and environmental and interest groups over the past year to brief them on the project. These groups and other stakeholders will play an important advisory role in the regulatory review process and in TDI’s development of the project. Adam Kane of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum said, “We are pleased that TDI has reached out to us as the Champlain-Hudson Power Express is developed. We look forward to working with the company to ensure that this project will protect Lake Champlain’s rich history, while providing renewable energy to areas that have growing energy needs.” The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s mission is to preserve and share the rich history of the Lake Champlain region.
Full text at: http://www.blackstone.com/cps/rde/xchg/bxcom/hs/news_pressrelease_6159.htm

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December 14th Talk: "Is Big Hydro Green?"

Alex Lee will give a presentation titled: "Is Big Hydro Green?" on Dec. 14, 2010, Franconia.

After graduating from Vermont Law School in 2001, Alex was Assistant to the Commissioners at the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, where he worked on energy efficiency programs. He also served as staff co-chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' (NARUC) Committee on Energy Resources & the Environment and was an active, regular participant in the New England Demand Response Initiative (NEDRI). Alex lives in Concord NH.

Time: Tuesday, December 14, 7 p.m.
Place: Franconia Town Hall (take Exit 38 off I-93)
The event is jointly sponsored by Bury the Northern Pass and Coos County Benefits Alliance.

Donations will be taken at the door to cover the hall hire ($50/hour).
The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Franconia selectboard or Town of Franconia.
Alex Lee will also speak in Coos County, date TBA.

PSNH and the White Mountain National Forest: Some History

Electricity came to NH in the 1880’s and was slow to gain acceptance over gas and other energy technologies (e.g., the water wheel). Electric companies had to invent demand by, for instance, buying horse- drawn street car companies and converting them to electric. The 1880’s saw a number of electric companies spring up in NH. PSNH was organized in 1926 to consolidate several different companies, including gas and hydro.

“To build demand, PSNH created the Home Service Department in 1929 to help customers select and use gas and electric appliances. These efforts proved effective. In 1928, the average residential customer used 296 kWh of electricity annually. By 1931, this had gone up 45 percent to 429 kWh. PSNH also emphasized rural electrification. Construction of rural lines increased steadily, from 23.3 miles in 1927 to 99.5 miles in 1931”(www.psnh.com).

Rural customers, however, had to pay exorbitant prices for electric service, and electrification proceeded slowly in the North Country during the 1930s. Private companies by and large focused on the more profitable larger population centers.

In 1936, the Rural Electrification Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt to provide funding to promote reasonably-priced electrification of remote areas by member-owned cooperatives. Crews traveled the countryside and typically installed one switched overhead light per room; outlets were uncommon since plug-in appliances remained expensive.

The State Grange encouraged the development of the NH Electric Co-op in 1938. This federally-funded cooperative competed with private companies, including PSNH, and began to drive prices down. The private companies, in turn, dropped their rates in order to attract more rural customers (http://www.moultonboroughhistory.org/).

The Co-op pushed north from the Lakes area in 1940 and eventually acquired the White Mountain Power Company in 1948. PSNH simultaneously began to expand into the North Country in the 1940s to compete for rural customers. In the Franconia-Easton area, the two lines still run parallel to one another down the valley.

PSNH bought a number of easements from private landowners in the Easton-Franconia valley in 1947. The typical easement over private land  was 225’. In some cases, this privately owned land was subsequently sold to the federal government to form part of the White Mountain National Forest, and the easements and, later, the power line came with the land. The 1940s Easton-Franconia ROWs run through what are now classified as wetlands and aquifer.

Would PSNH be able to buy these easements through the WMNF today? No. Would PSNH be allowed to construct the current AC powerline through wetlands and aquifer today? No.

Should PSNH be allowed to widen and construct a new and much larger HVDC line over these 1940s easements in the WMNF and through wetlands and aquifers? NO. New environmental violations must not be grandfathered, and there should be no further privitizing of the public land in the WMNF.