The Quebec – New England Transmission (officially known in Quebec as the ''Réseau multiterminal à courant continu (RMCC)'' and also known as Phase I / Phase II and the ''Radisson - Nicolet - Des Cantons'' circuit,
and known in New England as the ''Northern Pass'') is a long-distance
high-voltage direct current
A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curren ...
(HVDC) line between
Radisson,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen ...
and Westford Road in
Ayer,
. As of 2012, it remains one of only two ''Multi-terminal'' HVDC systems in the world (the other one being the
Sardinia–Corsica–Italy system, completed in the same year) and is "the only multi-terminal bipole HVDC system in the world where three
stations
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
are interconnected and operate under a common master control system".
History
Initially, the Quebec – New England Transmission consisted of the section between the
Des Cantons station near
Windsor, Quebec
Windsor is a town of 5,300 people, part of the Le Val-Saint-François Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada.
Windsor is perhaps best known for its ultra-modern Domtar fine paper plant.
History
Apart from the Abenak ...
and the
Frank D. Comerford Dam near
Monroe, New Hampshire
Monroe is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 864 at the 2020 census, up from 788 at the 2010 census. The town is located along the Connecticut River, across from Barnet, Vermont. It was originally charter ...
which, because of the asynchronous operation of the American and Québec power grids, had to be implemented as HVDC. This
bipolar electricity transmission
A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curren ...
line, which is overhead for its whole length except the crossing of Saint Lawrence river, went into service in 1986. It could transfer a maximum power of 690
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...
s. The operating voltage was ±450
kV or 900 kV from line to line.
The line was planned to extend beyond the two terminals at Des Cantons and Comerford to the
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
power plants of the
La Grande Complex, in the James Bay region of Québec, and to the high consumption area around
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
, Massachusetts — specifically, by to the north toward the converter station at
Radisson Substation, and to the south to the converter station at
Sandy Pond in Massachusetts. The transmission power was increased by extending the existing converter stations to 2,000 megawatts, with the value of the transmission voltage remaining unchanged at ±450 kV. For the connection of the
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
area, a further converter station at
Nicolet was put into service in 1992 with a transmission capacity of 2,000 megawatts.
The line crosses the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting t ...
between
Grondines and
Lotbinière via a
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube const ...
.
[.] Until the tunnel was built, the line crossed the
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...
via an overhead
lattice tower
A lattice tower or truss tower is a freestanding vertical framework tower. This construction is widely used in transmission towers carrying high voltage electric power lines, in radio masts and towers (a self-radiating tower or as a support for ...
electricity pylon
A transmission tower, also known as an electricity pylon or simply a pylon in British English and as a hydro tower in Canadian English, is a tall structure, usually a steel lattice tower, used to support an overhead power line.
In electrical gri ...
—portions of one of these towers would later be used as part of the observation tower at ''
La Cité de l'Énergie'' in
Shawinigan
Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census.
Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and ...
.
Failed Northern Pass initiative
In December 2008,
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Canadian province of Quebec, as well as the export of power to portions of the Northeast United States.
It was established by the ...
, along with American utilities
Northeast Utilities
Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to appr ...
(parent company of Public Service of New Hampshire) and
NSTAR (parent company of Boston Edison), created a joint venture to build a new HVDC line from
Windsor, Quebec
Windsor is a town of 5,300 people, part of the Le Val-Saint-François Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada.
Windsor is perhaps best known for its ultra-modern Domtar fine paper plant.
History
Apart from the Abenak ...
to
Deerfield, New Hampshire
Deerfield is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,855 at the 2020 census, up from 4,280 at the 2010 census. Deerfield is the location of the annual Deerfield Fair.
History
Deerfield was originally pa ...
, with an HVDC converter terminal intended to be built in
Franklin, New Hampshire
Franklin is a city in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 8,741, the least of New Hampshire's 13 cities. Franklin includes the village of West Franklin.
History
Situated at the confluence of th ...
. Hydro-Québec would have owned the segment within Quebec, while the segment within the US would have been owned by ''Northern Pass Transmission LLC'', a partnership between Northeast Utilities (75%) and NSTAR (25%). Estimated to cost US$1.1 billion to build, it was projected that the line would either run in existing right-of-way adjacent to the HVDC line that runs through New Hampshire, or it would have connected to a right-of-way in northern New Hampshire that runs through the
White Mountains. This line, projected to carry 1,200 megawatts, would have brought electricity to approximately one million homes.
In order to go ahead, the project needed to receive regulatory approval in Quebec and the United States. The proposed transmission line could have been in operation in 2015. According to Jim Robb, a senior executive from Northeast Utilities,
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
could have met one third of its
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, pronounced "Reggie") is the first mandatory market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States. RGGI is a cooperative effort among the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, ...
commitments with the hydropower coming through this new power line alone.
In October 2010, Northeast Utilities announced that it would merge with NSTAR, with the resulting company initially retaining the Northeast Utilities name. The deal was subject to regulatory approval. In effect, Northern Pass Transmission would have become a wholly owned subsidiary of Northeast Utilities, which was renamed
Eversource Energy
Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to appro ...
in 2015.
The purchase of power from Hydro-Québec was an issue during the
Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2010.
In July 2019, Eversource issued a statement that the Northern Pass project was now "off the table" after investing $318 million over a decade to develop and promote the project.
Construction of the ''New England Clean Energy Connect'', a similar project, started in February 2021.
Massachusetts pursues it as an option to bring Canadian hydropower through transmission lines in Maine, estimated to cost $1 billion.
[ Voters in 2021 expressed their disapproval of the project in the most expensive referendum in Maine history.
]
Sites
Important waypoints of the line.
Radisson to Nicolet
Nicolet to Des Cantons
Des Cantons to Comerford
Comerford to Ayer
Des Cantons to Deerfield
Route listed here reflects the primary route, and is currently projected.
Grounding electrodes
Quebec – New England Transmission has two grounding electrodes: one at Des Cantons at and the other near Radisson substation approximately at .
Opposition
2004 Hydro tower bombing
In 2004, shortly before U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's visit to Canada, a tower along the Quebec–New England Transmission circuit in the Eastern Townships near the Canada–US border was damaged by explosive charges detonated at its base. The CBC reported that a message, purportedly from the Résistance internationaliste and issued to the '' La Presse'' and ''Le Journal de Montréal
''Le Journal de Montréal'' is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. E ...
'' newspapers and CKAC
CKAC is a French-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned by Cogeco, the station operates as a commercial traffic information service branded as ''Radio Circulation 730''. Its studios are located at Place Bonaventure in ...
radio, stated that the attack had been carried out to "denounce the 'pillaging' of Quebec's resources by the United States".[
]
2015: Sierra Club of New Hampshire
In November 2015, the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
of New Hampshire expressed opposition to the new line, saying that it would benefit Connecticut and Massachusetts residents more than those in New Hampshire, and expressing concerns about the flooding of boreal forests
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, ...
during the construction of Hydro-Québec's dams in northern Quebec, disputes with the Innu
The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for " mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in th ...
First Nations, and the effects on tourism and the environment within the White Mountain National Forest
The White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) is a federally managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had alrea ...
.
2011-Present: Local government and community opposition
A coalition of New Hampshire communities and local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
officials oppose the construction of the expanded transmission line. Elected representatives from New Hampshire's 10 counties have expressed opposition, including 114 officials in the New Hampshire House of Representatives
The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...
and 5 members of the New Hampshire Senate
The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. It consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on population ...
. United States Congressional Representative Carol Shea-Porter
Carol Shea-Porter (born December 2, 1952) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who is the former member of the United States House of Representatives for . She held the seat from 2007 to 2011, 2013 to 2015, and 2017 to 201 ...
and Senators Maggie Hassan
Margaret Coldwell Hassan (; née Wood; born February 27, 1958) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from New Hampshire. A Democrat, Hassan was elected to the Senate in 2016 while serving as the 81st ...
and Jeanne Shaheen
Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American retired educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Shaheen served as the 78 ...
also oppose expansion of the line. Some of the incumbent power companies in New England oppose it, while other companies favor it.
See also
*Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Canadian province of Quebec, as well as the export of power to portions of the Northeast United States.
It was established by the ...
*Hydro-Québec's electricity transmission system
Hydro-Québec's electricity transmission system (also known as the Quebec interconnection) is an international electric power transmission system centred in Quebec, Canada. The system pioneered the use of very high voltage 735-kilovolt (kV) alt ...
* Saint Lawrence River HVDC Powerline Crossing
* Champlain Hudson Power Express
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
The HVDC Transmission Québec - New England
Pictures of the Quebec - New England line in New England
Northern Pass Transmission
''(via Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
)''
Bonneville Power Administration: Schematics of Quebec - New England Transmission system
''(via Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
)''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quebec - New England Transmission
Electric power transmission systems in Canada
Energy in New England
Energy in Quebec
Electric power transmission systems in the United States
HVDC transmission lines
Hydro-Québec
James Bay Project