NORTHERN PASS TRANSMISSION LLC
ORDER No. 25, 953
DE 15-459
New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission
October 14, 2016
Petition
to Commence Business as a Public Utility
Order
Approving Settlement Agreement And Granting Petition to
Operate as Public Utility
McLane
Middleton by Thomas B. Getz, Esq., on behalf of Northern Pass
Transmission LLC; the Office of Consumer Advocate by Donald
M. Kreis, Esq., on behalf of residential ratepayers; and
Suzanne G. Amidon, Esq., on behalf of Commission Staff.
Martin
P. Honigberg Chairman
In this
Order, the Commission approves a Settlement Agreement between
Commission Staff and Northern Pass Transmission LLC (NPT).
The Commission finds that it would be for the public good to
grant NPT authority to operate as a public utility subject to
the conditions in the Settlement Agreement. Those conditions
include the following: NPT must obtain all necessary permits,
licenses and approvals to build the Northern Pass
Transmission line, including a certificate of site and
facility from the Site Evaluation Committee (SEC); NPT must
contribute $20 million over a ten-year period to be allocated
by the Commission to energy efficiency programs and other
clean energy initiatives; and NPT must hold New Hampshire
electric ratepayers harmless from costs associated with the
possible regional allocation of costs for a portion of the
Northern Pass transmission line. As explained further below,
the Commission authorizes NPT to commence operations as a
public utility subject to the conditions in the Settlement
Agreement.
I.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On
October 19, 2015, Northern Pass Transmission LLC (NPT), a
limited liability company registered in New Hampshire, filed
a petition to commence business as a public utility. NPT is
wholly-owned by Eversource Energy Transmission Ventures,
Inc., which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Eversource Energy, a public utility holding company with a
principal place of business in Connecticut.
NPT
intends to construct, operate and maintain a 192-mile,
high-voltage electric transmission line from the
international border between New Hampshire and Canada to a
substation in Deerfield, New Hampshire (Northern Pass
Project). NPT's petition listed the following
municipalities in which it was seeking public utility status:
Pittsburg, Clarksville, Stewartstown, Dixville, Millsfield,
Dummer, Stark, Northumberland, Lancaster, Whitefield, Dalton,
Bethlehem, Sugar Hill, Franconia, Easton, Woodstock,
Thornton, Campton, Plymouth, Ashland, Bridgewater, New
Hampton, Bristol, Hill, Franklin, Northfield, Canterbury,
Concord, Pembroke, Allenstown, Deerfield, Raymond, Candia,
Chester, Auburn, and Londonderry. NPT has separately
petitioned the Site Evaluation Commission (SEC) for a
certificate of site and facility.
The
proposed construction is related to a transmission service
agreement between NPT and Hydro Renewable Energy, Inc. (HRE),
a subsidiary of Hydro-Quebec. Under the transmission service
agreement, NPT is to develop, site, finance, construct, own,
and maintain the electric transmission line, and sell firm
transmission service to HRE over a 40-year period. Because
NPT intends to own, operate, or manage facilities in the
State for the transmission or sale of electricity ultimately
sold to the public NPT meets the definition of public utility
as set forth in RSA 362:2, I. Pursuant to RSA 374:26, the
Commission shall grant a franchise whenever it finds that
such would be for the public good. NPT has asserted that it
has the financial, managerial, and technical capacity to
operate as a public utility in New Hampshire, and requested
that the Commission approve its petition.
The
Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) filed a letter of
participation on November 12, 2015, pursuant to RSA 363:28.
An Order of Notice was issued on November 24, 2015. On April
12, 2016, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire
Forests (Forest Society) filed a petition to intervene which
was denied by the Commission by secretarial letter dated
April 25, 2016.
NPT and
Commission Staff filed a Settlement Agreement on June 10,
2016. On June 30, 2016, the Commission issued a secretarial
letter scheduling a hearing for July 20, 2016.
Terry
Cronin petitioned to intervene on July 19, 2016. At the
hearing, the Commission denied Mr. Cronin's petition. Mr.
Cronin moved for reconsideration of the decision to deny him
intervenor status, alleging in part that the OCA did not
participate in the negotiation of the Settlement Agreement,
and that, without the OCA representation, his rights
"have been nullified in this case." The OCA filed a
letter explaining its involvement in this proceeding. The
Commission issued Order No. 25, 936 on August 18, 2016,
denying Mr. Cronin's motion for reconsideration.
At the
hearing, the Forest Society offered comments. Specifically,
the Forest Society requested that any Commission order
approving NPT's petition to commence business as a public
utility include an "explicit statement" that the
Commission is not adjudicating any property rights. Hearing
Transcript (Tr.) 7/20/2016 at 10-11. Second, the Forest
Society requested that the Commission require that regardless
of its public utility status, NPT may at no time avail itself
of the eminent domain process "regardless of whether the
law changes." Id. at 11. Third, the Forest
Society asked that the Commission affirmatively find that any
public benefit does not violate any rules governing affiliate
transactions. Id.
II.
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN NPT AND STAFF
A.
Commencing Business as a Public Utility
The
Settlement Agreement states that, based on the testimony
presented by NPT, written discovery, and discussions at
technical sessions, NPT possesses the financial, managerial,
and technical capability to operate as a public utility. The
Agreement expressly provides that NPT may not commence
business as a public utility until such time as it has
obtained all necessary federal and state permits. The
Agreement further states that NPT may not commence business
as a...
