Northern Pass project’s Hereford Forest section will be buried
Acontroversial section of the Quebec-new Hampshire Northern Pass power line traversing the Hereford Forest in southern Quebec will be buried, confirmed Energy and Natural resources Minister Pierre Moreau during a visit to Sherbrooke Monday.
Moreau was at the office of Saintfrançois MNA Guy Hardy along with representatives of the municipalities of Saint-herménégilde and East Hereford and the Forêt Hereford group to confirm that the final Estrie section of the line will be buried for about fifteen kilometers along the 9th Range to the US border via Lépine and Houle Roads in Coaticook.
The Government of Quebec and Hydro-québec are ready to agree to partial burying of the line. A Hydro Quebec report has said that the project will remain profitable and an underground route is technically feasible at this location. Additional costs incurred will not be passed on to Quebec taxpayers, says Moreau, but paid from profits generated by exporting the power.
Forêt Hereford spokesperson Sylvie Harvey, says the news is a great relief. The conservation group was assigned to manage and protect the 5,300 hectares of forest donated by American Neil Tillotson. In finally agreeing to bury the line, Quebec joins New Hampshire, where one-third of the 300-kilometer portion of the route will be buried, partly in the countryside, partly in the White Mountains.
"There is still some work to do with the citizens of the MRC," says Harvey, “as there will be citizens impacted even with the burial and we have to answer people's questions. “Hydro-québec should take care of this before the holidays."
Hydro-québec also has obtained a certificate of authorization from the Ministry of the Environment, said Saint-françois MNA Guy Hardy. "But it should be a simple formality," he said, adding that he is pleased that the regional consultation process has borne fruit. “There have been a lot of negotiations, among others with Forêt Hereford and Hydro-québec, but the result is a happy one for everyone."
In the United States, the presidential permit was granted last week to Eversource Energy, Hydro-quebec’s American partner in the Northern Pass project. The call for tenders launched last March by Massachusetts attracted nearly twenty project submissions, including that of Northern Pass, which is valued at $620 million for the Quebec portion and $2.1 billion for the American side. The final decision is due in January.
During a visit to the Estrie last week, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard joined Hardy and Sherbrooke MNA Luc Fortin in expressing support for the burial of the line.