Northern Pass Poised For State Supreme Court Review, Amid New Legal Challenge

Orange-shirted opponents of Northern Pass sit with blue-shirted supporters at the Site Evaluation Committee Thursday. Photo by Annie Ropeik for NHPR

State regulators voted unanimously Thursday not to give Eversource a new hearing for its Northern Pass power line proposal.

That means the case, which has stretched for nearly a decade, will likely go before the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

Eversource has argued the state Site Evaluation Committee didn’t consider enough details about the power line proposal before denying its final permit earlier this year.

The utility wants to build the nearly 200-mile, partly buried transmission line from Quebec through the White Mountains into central New Hampshire. It would bring about 1,100 megawatts of hydroelectric power onto the New England grid.

SEC chair Martin Honigberg and his colleagues said Thursday they feel they did their legal due diligence before rejecting Northern Pass.

“I think if we had viewed this project as a winner, for a variety of reasons, it would have been approved,” Honigberg said.

The committee also voted against having two members recuse themselves from future proceedings on the project. Business groups supporting Northern Pass had argued those members made biased statements.

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