Northern Pass gets crucial US approval

The proposed Northern Pass hydro line connecting Quebec and New Hampshire has taken another step forward as the project has finally received formal approval from the US Department of Energy, which it has declared "in the public interest".

The Department of Energy officially issued a "Presidential Permit" on November 16 allowing the project to cross the state of New Hampshire from Pittsburgh, near the Canada-us border to Deerfield, Massachusetts. This approval does not necessarily mean, however, that the $1.6 billion project is about to see the light of day. The project still needs the approval of several local regulatory agencies and New England states before it can come on line by the end of 2020.

Of crucial importance is approval by the Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) expected in February 2018. The SEC will have to decide on the burial of the line over a distance of 100 kilometers in the White Mountains area.

Several New England environmental organizations, including the New Hampshire Forest Protection Society, are lobbying the SEC to refuse to authorize the project.

Eversource, Hydro-québec's American partner, says that authorization from the Department of Energy is one more step towards the construction of the transmission line.

"On both the New Hampshire and the Canadian sides, the licensing process is being completed," said Eversource President Bill Quinlan in a communiqué. ”Now that we have signed agreements with the main contractors, we will be able to start construction in mid-2018."