Siting a line

The question of siting a new Bangor Hydro transmission line, currently before Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection, is a splendid example of the tradeoffs among costs, environmental protection, aesthetics, reliability and a host of other considerations that go into meeting the need for power. And given the changed circumstances that have taken place in Maine since this project began more than a decade ago, the BEP should be eager to weigh these factors again and require Bangor Hydro to go back and review previously rejected paths for the line.

First permitted in 1990 to string a 345kV transmission line from Orrington to Point Lepreau, New Brunswick, Bangor Hydro met with understandable delay, first in federal permitting, then with restructuring, among other issues. Now it says it wants to build, but since 1998, when it applied to BEP for a license extension, there has been a question of whether new circumstances would lead the BEP to instruct the utility to examine other routes. The new circumstances include the presence of the gas pipeline along the Stud Mill Road, a higher expectation of forestry practices and an Endangered Species listing for Atlantic salmon.

Two alternatives to the permitted route have been proposed by very different organizations but that have an important component in common. International Paper, over whose land the line would travel, wants it to run along the Stud Mill Road, adjacent to the gas pipeline. The Natural Resources Council of Maine is pushing for the line to be rerouted to run alongside another transmission line running to Canada, known as the MEPCO line. Placing the new line next to an existing corridor could be an appealing alternative to cutting a wholly new corridor, but it is also where the balances come in and where the BEP has to start asking questions.

. The MEPCO alternative is a longer and somewhat more expensive route but could offer the least visual impact and would share part of the current corridor, reducing the effect on the environment. As an option, it makes a lot of sense with one large condition. The alternative route would have the line connect not at Point Lepreau, but at Keswick, NewBrunswick, a connection that NRCM’s independent experts say is possible but New Brunswick Power experts say wouldn’t happen without a new line being added between Keswick and Point Lepreau, making the alternative undesirable both financially and environmentally.

. The IP alternative comes close to the same cost as Bangor Hydro’s line and would keep the utilities together but would increase the already substantial corridor of the Stud Mill Road and 75-foot gas-line path by another 170 feet. Still, given the presence of the gas line and IP’s understandable desire to reduce fragmentation of its forest, the route is worth a new look. The fact that IP would compete as a power wholesaler against companies that would use the new line and so could be considered to have an interest in seeing the line delayed adds a fascinating complication to the state proceedings, as does the lawsuit filed yesterday by Bangor Hydro claiming IP is obligated not to object to the Hydro’s current proposal.

. Bangor Hydro is vigorously defending its current proposed route for two reasons: It does not want to see the $7 million it has spent so far gaining permits for it count for little or nothing, and it doesn’t want to spend the time to site a new route. The BEP will have the tricky task of figuring out whether the expected demand for power, the federal demand for new transmission and the proximity of one of the alternatives suggest a new route could be sited for a reasonable additional cost. Reasonable cost would suggest that the time it takes to site a new line would be far shorter than the original proposal.

Like highways, transmission lines should be considered permanent parts of the landscape. Putting them in the best possible place – and recognizing there is no perfect place – is important now and for at least the next several generations. Despite all Bangor Hydro has been through to get to its current state with its proposed route, the BEP should feel an obligation to fully understand all options in the region for the new line, especially given the changes that have occurred since 1990.