EXPORTS TO NEW ENGLAND
EXPORTS TO NEW ENGLAND
Hydro-Québec has been selling electricity into New England since the 1980s. This U.S. region accounts for about half the company’s exports.
In the early 1990s, Hydro-Québec commissioned the Radisson–Nicolet–Des Cantons line (also referred to as the multiterminal direct-current system, Phase II), a 450-kV DC line that connects the La Grande complex, in the Baie-James area, with Sandy Pond substation, near Boston. To date, this line has transmitted more than 100 billion kilowatthours of clean and reliable electricity.
A second, smaller interconnection, known as Highgate, is used to transfer clean electricity from Québec’s power grid to Vermont’s, under Hydro-Québec’s long-term energy contract with Vermont utilities.
THE PHASE II LINE BETWEEN RADISSON AND SANDY POND: A NEW ENGLAND–HYDRO-QUÉBEC SUCCESS STORY
The Phase II multiterminal direct-current system (MTDCS) is a very important interconnection for New England, with regular power flows of 1,200–1,400 MW and higher. Construction of this 1,500-km (932-mile) line, which connects Radisson substation in Québec’s Baie-James region with Sandy Pond substation just outside Boston, began in the 1980s through a partnership between Hydro-Québec and New England’s utilities. Two long-term contracts, which solidified commitments to buy and sell energy, were key to the construction of this transmission infrastructure.
Many of the same issues that are creating challenges for New England today were evident in the early 1980s and drove the development of this transmission line: the need to break the region’s reliance on oil, environmental improvement goals and the search for a reliable, competitively priced supply of electricity.
The New England power system faces various challenges: reliability issues, increasing costs, price volatility and a carbon footprint that the region wishes to improve. In recent winters, price peaks for natural gas have made it difficult for New England’s gas generators to secure fuel, sometimes prompting the region to turn to oil-fired generation, which has a much larger carbon footprint. The situation is expected to worsen as nuclear and other non-gas capacity exits the market and several aging facilities are retired, increasing reliance on natural gas.
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Comment
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Comment by Richard McDonald/Saving Maine on December 13, 2022 at 5:04pm
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Maine could rid itself of the windpower curse by partnering with HQ for the remaining portion of it's renewable goals, but there's too much money to be made and political virtue signaling to lather us with to make such a pragmatic, and economically prudent decision.
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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