Infrastructure

Eversource Wins Power Transmission Project Contract

Paul Ausick

Published: January 26, 2018 8:30 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:04 am

Massachusetts-based electric utility Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) announced on Thursday that the company had won a bid from the state to build a new transmission line to transport Canadian-generated electricity to the northeast grid. Financial details were not disclosed.

Canada’s Hydro-Québec will provide the hydropower-generated electricity and transport it to the U.S. border near Pittsburg, New Hampshire. From there Eversource’s Northern Pass Transmission subsidiary will construct a 192-mile transmission line to the New England electric grid at Deerfield, New Hampshire.

The line will transport 1,090 megawatts of hydropower year-round and will provide up to 9.4 terawatt hours of hydropower that Massachusetts legislation requires on an annual basis to help the state achieve its clean energy goals by 2020.

The Province of Québec recently granted Hydro-Québec a permit to construct the hydroelectric transmission line that will connect with Northern Pass at the U.S. border. Northern Pass expects to receive all required state and federal permits by early 2018. The company noted that all major contractor and equipment contracts are fully executed to begin construction by mid-2018.

A comprehensive project labor agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has been executed and is expected to generate thousands of jobs during peak construction for both Massachusetts and New Hampshire workers. Northern Pass is expected to be in service by the end of 2020.

More than 80% of the transmission line will be located along existing transmission corridors or buried along roadways, eliminating potential view impacts in and around the White Mountain National Forest. The interconnection with the New England grid will be controlled by the regional system operator, ISO-New England.

Eversource shares closed up 5.6% on Thursday, at $64.57 in a 52-week range of $54.10 to $66.15. Volume topped 6 million shares, about three times the daily average. The 12-month consensus price target on the stock is $65.42, and the stock traded down about 1.9% in Friday’s premarket session at $63.37.