About a month ago, we shared a report by the Concord Monitor, which discussed energy challenges utilities will face in 2015 and the years to come. There is an increasing demand for electricity, which has caused utility companies, including Eversource Energy (formerly Northeast Utilities) and National Grid, to increase their rates this winter. Now, National Grid and Eversource have formulated an estimated $520 million dollar plan to combat these ongoing challenges. Working with ISO New England, the manager of the region’s power grid, the strategy is to add new transmission lines along southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the Merrimack Valley and Greater Boston Area. The expected completion date of all projects is 2018.
Some major project notes include:
“The Merrimack Valley Reliability Project: a new overhead 345-kV line in existing rights-of-way in Londonderry, Windham, Hudson, and Pelham, NH, and Dracut, Andover, and Tewksbury, MA (in service 2017).
The Woburn to Wakefield Line: a new underground 345-kV line through Woburn, Winchester, Stoneham, and Wakefield, MA (in service 2018)
The Mystic (Everett) to Woburn Line: a new underground 115-kV line through Everett, Boston (Charlestown), Somerville, Medford, Winchester, and Woburn, MA (in service 2018)”
According to Rudy Wynter, president of National Grid’s Transmission Business, “This is a win-win situation for Massachusetts residents and businesses since our solution will help to ensure the future reliability of the region’s electrical grid, while maximizing the project’s economic benefits.”
Community meetings will be held in all areas where the new projects will be built.
Final Thoughts
With this project, on top of increasing rates and the shutdown of many power plants across New England, customers will continue to feel the pressure on their wallets over the next few years. Yet, these changes are necessary in order to reduce costs and improve service in the long run. We, as well as our utility partners, urge customers to take advantage of the energy efficiency programs to find new ways to cut costs over the next tough winters until the project has realize completion.