Paula Tracy wrote the following in a recent article about the Northern Pass for the Union Leader:
“As proposed, the project would use rights of way owned by PSNH from Groveton to Deerfield. The project still needs to secure a new 40-mile right of way from Groveton to the Canadian border.
Northeast Utilities is PSNH’s parent company. Northern Pass would be a sister organization to PSNH with profits going to Northeast Utilities stockholders, not ratepayers or property owners.
The way it is set up, Hydro-Quebec will pay Northern Pass to use the lines and will make their money on the New England grid by selling the power. PSNH’s existing poles would be removed and replaced by metal poles along the edge of the right of way. That cost would be paid for in the $1.1 billion construction costs, in addition to the towers for the Northern Pass line, placed in the middle of the right of way, which in most cases would be about 85 to 90 feet tall, and in some cases would reach 135 feet. “
I’ve responded to Jennifer Berry – the Northern Pass “landowner outreach specialist” who contacted us last month – with the following questions:
1. Is it true that the existing wooden poles in the ROW will be replaced with metal poles?
2. If so, where will the metal poles be placed?
3. How high will they be?
4. Will there be more or fewer metal poles than there are wooden poles today?
As you can see, PSNH is holding back details about their plans – as each detail emerges, the impact on us gets worse. Bad enough we’re getting 90′ metal towers for the new line, but now they’re going to be tearing out the wooden poles and replacing them with metal towers as well. And the replacement towers – based on an earlier statement by PSNH about the Northern Pass lines being on the “far side” of the existing lines – will be sited on the edge of the ROW which means the existing wires will be even closer to the buildings than they already are.
If you haven’t written to Senators Ayotte and Shaheen yet, I urge you to do so. They need to understand that this is not just a Coos county problem.