New Brunswick Power plans transmission line into Maine

BANGOR – New Brunswick Power is revisiting plans to build a 195-mile power transmission line from the province to Orrington, but needs Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. to come on board to help construct most of it.

The line, which has been discussed since the 1980s, would begin in Point Lepreau near Saint John and run about 55 miles to the U.S.-Canada border by Woodland. The other 140 miles would run to Orrington. The proposed line would run through an existing right of way.

N.B. Power project manager Will Smith said Friday that the utility has been instructed by the province to remove any barriers that currently hinder the exporting of extra power being generated in the Maritimes to markets in New England.

N.B. Power expects the line to be operational by summer of 2003.

Not only would N.B. Power use the line to export power, but so would Hydro-Quebec and Emera, the owners of Nova Scotia Power and the pending owners of Bangor Hydro.

Less than two years ago, Emera announced its intent to purchase Bangor Hydro for $205 million in U.S. funds. That deal has been approved by Bangor Hydro’s shareholders, the Maine Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It is awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which was expected in late June.

Bangor Hydro Vice President Carroll Lee said his utility, under new owners, will need to seek the necessary regulatory approvals for the line to be built. Because Bangor Hydro would have to put up the bulk of the line, he said discussions would need to begin to determine if it will be built in a joint venture with N.B. Power or if Bangor Hydro would do it itself.

“We’ve indicated that we want to go forward with this,” Lee said Friday.

Bangor Hydro would need the approvals of the PUC, FERC and the state Department of Environmental Protection. The utility also would have to consider whether building the line would be economically feasible.

In the reverse, Lee said, the line could help the Maritimes during peak electricity demand times, especially in winter months, because power could be transmitted to them.

At ISO New England, the governing board of the six-state power grid, spokeswoman Ellen Foley said that before construction could begin, both N.B. Power and Bangor Hydro would need to perform a system impact study and get the approval of ISO.

But, she said, the addition of a new line and the importation of new electricity is welcome.

“There’s a market for it,” she said.

The proposed new line, too, would add reliability to the New England power grid, Foley said. With more power for use, the electricity market isn’t taxed when demand starts eating away at the available supply.

Besides the transmission line, N.B. Power is working with Energy Atlantic Partners to construct a marine transmission network to connect electricity generation in New Brunswick with the Northeast. The marine line plan has been coined the Neptune Project, and Energy Atlantic has filed a tariff application with FERC for approval.

Energy Atlantic will invest up to $3 billion in the project, which also requires review by several other Canadian and U.S.-based regulatory agencies.