Advertisement

In Unanimous Vote, N.H. Supreme Court Upholds Northern Pass Denial

Opponents of the proposed Northern Pass power project protest outside the New Hampshire Supreme Court on May 15 in Concord, N.H. (Michael Casey/AP)
Opponents of the proposed Northern Pass power project protest outside the New Hampshire Supreme Court on May 15 in Concord, N.H. (Michael Casey/AP)

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has upheld state regulators' rejection of the Northern Pass transmission line. The unanimous decision Friday morning will likely mark the end of the massive Eversource project as currently proposed.

The power line would have spanned nearly 200 miles, ferrying 1,100 megawatts of Canadian hydropower through the White Mountains to the New England power grid.

Eversource argued that the state Site Evaluation Committee didn't fairly consider Northern Pass before rejecting it in 2018.

The SEC said they could not find that the project would not disrupt orderly development in its region — one required test of code.

The Supreme Court wrote Friday that state law says it's on Eversource to prove it can pass that and other tests. They said the SEC was within its rights to find that the utility hadn't met that burden of proof.

Longtime opponents of the project were thrilled with the decision.

Eversource says it's disappointed, but will consider all possible ways to move forward with its clean energy goals.

Gov. Chris Sununu says in his statement about Northern Pass that the court order shows "it is time to move on."


This story was originally published on New Hampshire Public Radio

Related:

Advertisement

More from WBUR

Listen Live
Close