CONCORD, N.H.—Plenty of raw electricity sloshes around in Quebec’s rivers and reservoirs, promising relief for U.S. northeasterners, who pay the nation’s highest power costs. But getting those electrons to smartphones and air conditioners in Boston, Hartford and New York City is another matter entirely.
In review or under construction are five large-scale hydropower proposals that could pump thousands of megawatts into the Northeast and ease prices as supply increases. But critics worry that transmission lines will despoil the natural beauty of places like New Hampshire’s White Mountains, and that overreliance on it will stymie efforts to trim consumption and develop renewable energy sources closer to home.
“Our view is that there is a role for Canadian hydropower in the New England power grid,” said Tom Irwin, vice president and director of Conservation Law Foundation-New Hampshire, an environmental advocate. “It’s had a role, we expect it will continue to play a role and we expect that role will increase. But we think that to the extent it increases, that it be done in a thoughtful way and in a way that doesn’t undermine the development of renewable resources at the local level.”
