Underwater electricity transmission system receives another approval

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March 21, 2011

DAN HEATH Press-Republican The Press Republican Mon Mar 21, 2011, 02:36 PM EDT

PLATTSBURGH — A plan to build an $1.9 billion underground direct-current electricity transmission system in Lake Champlain and the Hudson River has received another approval.

Transmission Developers Inc. said Monday that the Operating Committee of the New York Independent System Operator has approved the project's system reliability interconnection study.

That application, filed in the summer of 2008, was one of the first steps the company took toward approval of the 350-mile transmission line that will serve the New York City market.

'CLOSER TO REALITY'

The decision means the Operating Committee has found that the system can be reliably integrated into the state's transmission system and is eligible to proceed to the final step of the interconnection process.

"Our goal of bringing 1,000 megawatts of clean hydro and wind power into the New York City market is another step closer to reality," Transmission Developers President and CEO Donald Jessome said in a press release.

The proposal calls for two 5-inch cables to be buried under the Richelieu River, Lake Champlain and the Champlain Canal. The cables will exit the canal near Fort Edward and be buried under railroad right-of-ways until the cables enter the Hudson River south of Albany.

The cables will connect to a substation in Yonkers that would be constructed by the New York Power Authority on land owned by Consolidated Edison Company of New York.

"I want to thank the (Power) Authority and Consolidated Edison for their continuing assistance in the interconnection process," Jessome said.

SAVINGS CITED

Transmission Developers cites independent studies that show the line will generate savings to New York consumers of about $750 million per year. The power is to be supplied by hydro and wind generators in Canada.

The project held a public hearing before an administrative law judge in Plattsburgh in November. That judge is expected to make a recommendation to the Public Service Commission later this year.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the company's marketing program in July. The company is undergoing extensive regulatory review by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Transmission Developers hopes to start construction in 2012 and be operational in 2015.

The company was acquired by the New York City-based Blackstone Group shortly before it announced its plans in February 2010.

More information on the project is available at www.CHPExpress.com.

E-mail Dan Heath at:

dheath@pressrepublican.com