Environmental Benefits

This project will strengthen the region's energy supply and benefit the environment by:

• Providing a new source of clean energy

  The Northern Pass transmission line will replace a significant amount of higher-priced, less-clean electricity generated by plants burning fossil fuels with power generated predominantly by hydroelectric facilities.

• Reducing power plant emissions

  Hydroelectric power ranks among the best power generating options in northern countries, particularly in the context of climate change. Bringing 1,200 megawatts of hydroelectric energy into New England will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to five million tons a year—equivalent to the annual emissions of nearly 900,000 cars. Learn more about hydropower and methane, a greenhouse gas that can be produced in large quantities by rotting, submerged vegetation in warm climates with dense, tropical vegetation.

• Complementing other renewable energy projects

  Hydropower is beneficial as a complement to the other renewable energy resources that are being considered or are under development in New Hampshire and New England, such as wind and solar power, which only produce energy under certain weather conditions and need a flexible energy base.

• Deferring the need to construct more fossil fuel power plants

  The Northern Pass will provide the region with access to a substantial new source of reliable, base load energy. This will help avoid or defer the need to build fossil fuel generation plants that would otherwise be required to produce an equivalent quantity of power and serve consumers’ growing demand. A 2010 report by Charles River Associates states that, based on the current ISO New England demand forecast, this project could delay the need for constructing new generating capacity within the region by four to five years.

• Enabling the transition to better energy sources

  Increasing the supply of hydropower to New England will help to make possible expanded uses of electricity in the region, such as plug-in electric vehicles and manufacturing using renewable energy.