Balsams Grand Resort teams up with ski industry legend Les Otten

[Smellytele]

That is not correct - it will provide power to all of New England, terminating in Deerfield, NH.

http://www.northernpass.us/project-overview.htm

New Hampshire already has a surplus of electricity that is produced and we do not need it.

If you are going to quote the people who want it I might as well quote those who don't...

http://www.nhmagazine.com/January-2014/Understanding-Northern-Pass/

Is the power destined for New Hampshire?
New Hampshire already generates more electricity than it uses, and projected electricity demand has been trending downward. Potential demand for Northern Pass electricity in the future is in southern New England.

 

[freeski]

The Governor really put VT on the hook for some big money. Why were the politicians traveling to promote this? Do they just like to travel for the fun of it. Who paid? Getting rid of the "Q" is money well spent!

 

[Smellytele]

The Governor really put VT on the hook for some big money. Why were the politicians traveling to promote this? Do they just like to travel for the fun of it. Who paid? Getting rid of the "Q" is money well spent!

Posted in the wrong thread?

 

[mbedle]

New Hampshire already has a surplus of electricity that is produced and we do not need it.

If you are going to quote the people who want it I might as well quote those who don't...

http://www.nhmagazine.com/January-2014/Understanding-Northern-Pass/

Is the power destined for New Hampshire?
New Hampshire already generates more electricity than it uses, and projected electricity demand has been trending downward. Potential demand for Northern Pass electricity in the future is in southern New England.

What about NH wanted cheaper electric?

 

[Newpylong]

New Hampshire already has a surplus of electricity that is produced and we do not need it.

If you are going to quote the people who want it I might as well quote those who don't...

http://www.nhmagazine.com/January-2014/Understanding-Northern-Pass/

Is the power destined for New Hampshire?
New Hampshire already generates more electricity than it uses, and projected electricity demand has been trending downward. Potential demand for Northern Pass electricity in the future is in southern New England.

I recommend not getting data from "Friends of" and "Societies", etc.

It is best not to look at New Hampshire in a vacuum as not all of our electricity is purchased from NH sources, and our generating plants do not sell 100% to NH customers. That is just how the market works. Companies like National Grid, Liberty and the Coop do not have their own generating sources. On the other hand Eversource does have their own.

The New England region is facing an electricity shortage regardless of what is happening here. NH has some of the highest electrical costs in the country and some of the lowest usage per capita. Source US Energy Administration. It will only get worse once Bow goes offline.

 

[DoublePlanker]

I recommend not getting data from "Friends of" and "Societies", etc.

It is best not to look at New Hampshire in a vacuum as not all of our electricity is purchased from NH sources, and our generating plants do not sell 100% to NH customers. That is just how the market works. Companies like National Grid, Liberty and the Coop do not have their own generating sources. On the other hand Eversource does have their own.

The New England region is facing an electricity shortage regardless of what is happening here. NH has some of the highest electrical costs in the country and some of the lowest usage per capita. Source US Energy Administration. It will only get worse once Bow goes offline.

+1

Electric rates a very high in New England and New Hampshire. It can have an impact on businesses choosing to locate in another region.

 

[Smellytele]

I recommend not getting data from "Friends of" and "Societies", etc.

Is it best to get the data from the company who wants to put the lines in?

 

[Northernflight]

When I was living briefly in Virginia I got to see what high energy DC lines looked like in the mountains. They absolutely gash the landscape and command view. The project as it was proposed running through the Whites would have greatly altered the Mountains. The Whites have a very unique feel to them and developments like the Northern Pass will alter it for the worse. The one good thing is that they are listening. Most of the route through the Whites is now proposed to be underground, although it is still above ground near Dixville Notch.

I do not see any real long term benefits for NH out of this project. The jobs it creates will only last a few years through construction. The power will not benefit the state and there are better options for bringing in more power. Hydro power can also be very devastating to the natural environment, not nearly as much as coal, but there is still a large toll on the rivers. I just don't see how the benefits of this project outweigh the environmental and social costs of implementing it for NH. I am all for development if it makes sense and has benefits for a region or large group of people, the Northern Pass does not benefit those it is affecting.

 

[dlague]

Hydro power can also be very devastating to the natural environment, not nearly as much as coal, but there is still a large toll on the rivers.

Funny, people complain about Wind Turbines, fields of Solar Panels, now Hydro. I guess we need to stick to coal, oil, bio fuels and natural gas, people have complained about those sources for ever so it feels normal.

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

I recommend not getting data from "Friends of" and "Societies", etc.

It is best not to look at New Hampshire in a vacuum as not all of our electricity is purchased from NH sources, and our generating plants do not sell 100% to NH customers. That is just how the market works. Companies like National Grid, Liberty and the Coop do not have their own generating sources. On the other hand Eversource does have their own.

The New England region is facing an electricity shortage regardless of what is happening here. NH has some of the highest electrical costs in the country and some of the lowest usage per capita. Source US Energy Administration. It will only get worse once Bow goes offline.

Let me clear up a misconception here .. Eversource is not permitted to own any generating faclities under deregulation rules. The power company is in distribution only. All power plants in New England operated as merchant plants selling thir power by contract or on the spot market. New England power pool pretty much runs the show. The Northern-Pass will probably result in an early closure of Seabrook Station as it will never be able to compete in that market environment. That is why Vermont Yankee closed and now Pilgrim in 2019. Nuclear power plants as merchant power plants just don't make it in a deregulated economic environment.

 

[deadheadskier]

Nuclear power plants as merchant power plants just don't make it in a deregulated economic environment.

Why is that? I thought nuclear was one of the cheapest forms of power?

 

[cdskier]

A couple years ago, I looked into the costs of power production (Not the billable rate, the actual cost) from first shovel in the ground until the final flower is planted at the end of the de-commissioning. What I learned was this:

Hydro 3.3 cents per kWhr
Nuclear 3.5 cents per kWhr
Natural gas 3.7 cents per kWhr
Coal 4.1 cents per kWhr
Wind 4.3 cents per kWhr
Solar 7.7 cents per kWhr

Sorry, I did not save the link to this article, my bad, this was when I was first looking into the subject (2012-2013), while building my geothermal home at the base of a wind farm.

I suspect these numbers have changed lately. PSE&G here in NJ was just issued a permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build another nuclear power plant at one of their sites, however PSE&G stated they have no intention on building it at the moment even with the permit. The reason they cited is that energy costs have significantly changed in the past few years since they originally filed for the permit. Here's a quote from PSE&G: "But then a new influx of cheap natural gas from the Marcellus shale region of Pennsylvania made it far more profitable to burn gas than coal in power plants, or even to operate nuclear facilities." The permit is valid for 20 years so they have plenty of time to decide to build something and ultimately they still want to if the costs make sense again.

 

[yeggous]

It's more complicated that cost per kilowatt-hour. The prices vary throughout the day so a generator can still be economical even if it is expensive so long as you can quickly modulate the output or if it's production peaks when rates are typically high. This is one reason why solar is economical. Coal and nuclear cannot be easily throttled so it is harder for them to make money.

 

[DoublePlanker]

Wow. I thought nuclear was the most expensive. Just look at the cost of Seabrook. There are some interesting R & D projects going on including some funded by Bill Gates. New reactor types that can use spent fuel from legacy reactors.

 

[JoeB-Z]

Hydro can look great but they do weird things ecologically. I have a place on the Connecticut River near Weathersfield Bow, VT. The river is really low this spring. Last Saturday night the TransCanada power people dropped the river TWO more feet to make money. That would be at Wilder Dam. Fish are spawning but what do they care. I have never seen the river this low at this time of year.

 

[JoeB-Z]

Hydro can look great but they do weird things ecologically. I have a place on the Connecticut River near Weathersfield Bow, VT. The river is really low this spring. Last Saturday night the TransCanada power people dropped the river TWO more feet to make money. That would be at Wilder Dam or Bellows Falls. Fish are spawning but what do they care. I have never seen the river this low at this time of year.

 

[machski]

Look at all the opinions about different energy sources. Nothing is perfect by itself. The only things ng that might is controlled nuclear fusion, but we have yet to figure out how to harness this energy process. Until then, it will take a little of everything to try and balance our needs. Northern pass is one way to balance that as hydro Quebec is quite different from your smaller hydro stations/systems just due to the source (St. Lawrence) and it's size/volume flows.

 

[deadheadskier]

The St. Lawrence isn't actually a large part of their operation. I was curious what the sources were and had assumed the St. Lawrence would be the primary source, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

http://www.hydroquebec.com/generation/centrale-hydroelectrique.html

 

[machski]

The St. Lawrence isn't actually a large part of their operation. I was curious what the sources were and had assumed the St. Lawrence would be the primary source, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

http://www.hydroquebec.com/generation/centrale-hydroelectrique.html

True enough, in fact it looks like the La Grande watershed is the basis for a large majority of their KW production.

 

[x10003q]

Hydro Quebec has excess of power. It seems the entire Romaine complex is scheduled to come on line over the next few years (1 or 2 units out of 4 are operating). The cost of the electricity from the Romaine complex is higher than the selling price.