Eversource 1, Ratepayers 0

Eversource is spending $400 million on a major transmission project in western New Hampshire – and it wants to send the bill straight to New England’s ratepayers with no scrutiny of whether the project is necessary or appropriate.   On September 23, the utility achieved a regrettable and major victory.

Specifically, Eversource succeeded in persuading the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee (SEC)  -- the regulatory body that reviews energy facilities at the state level -- to boot ratepayer advocates out of the proceeding.

Both NH and Maine Ratepayer Advocates Told to Get Lost

Both the Office of the Consumer Advocate – representing ratepayers in the Granite State – and the Maine Office of the Public Advocate – which represents ratepayers in that state – had sought to intervene and become full parties to the SEC’s review of the proposed rebuild of the Eversource X-178 transmission line.  The 115 kv line is 49 miles long and runs from Campton to Whitefield through the towns of Thornton, Woodstock, Easton, Sugar Hill, Lisbon, and Bethlehem.

“This line presently consists of about 600 mostly wooden transmission poles, of which fewer than 50 are in need to replacement because of rot or woodpecker damage,” noted Consumer Advocate Donald Kreis.  “Eversource is using that relatively minor damage as an excuse to replace the entire line and replace the current ground wire with fiber-optic cable, a significant upgrade.

“What an outrageous example of unconstrained spending of ratepayer money,” said Kreis.  He noted that because the X-178 replacement is a so-called “asset condition” project – meaning it is not a new transmission facility – it receives essentially no scrutiny for prudence at the regional or federal levels.

“Federal regulators are telling us it’s up to state authorities to review whether transmission projects are necessary and thus appropriate as land-use,” observed Kreis.  “And now Eversource has convinced the state regulators that ratepayers should have no voice, no seat at the table, when their plan for lavish spending on the X-178 is under review.  That’s true even though, because of the way federally regulated transmission charges are structured, the cost of the X-178 rebuild will go straight into rates as soon as construction starts. 

"Also, by excluding ratepayers from having a voice in this case, it becomes more likely that ratepayers will not be able to exert any meaningful input in future cases on the billions of dollars of other projects under consideration, the costs of which will be added to ratepayers bills regardless of whether there is any any real consideration of the need for them,” said the Consumer Advocate.

Ten Percent of $400 million = Still Big Bucks for NH Ratepayers

Kreis stressed that he disagreed with the decision to exclude both his office and that of his office’s Maine counterpart.  “The cost of the X-178 rebuild project will be socialized around the region,” Kreis noted.  “New Hampshire ratepayers will be responsible for around ten percent of that $400 million, and so will Maine ratepayers given that each state uses roughly the same amount of electricity.

“I salute Maine Public Advocate Bill Harwood for his willingness to participate in our X-178 siting case and I regret that he received such a chilly reception in Concord,” said Kreis.  “Asset condition spending around the region is out of control and I know that all of the ratepayer advocates in New England are as alarmed as Bill and I are.  Eversource, as the region’s largest transmission owner, has not heard the last of us.”

What happens next?  It is not clear.  Because the X-178 line is of relatively low voltage, the Site Evaluation Committee’s authority over the X-178 project is discretionary – so, the Committee must next rule on the request by the towns of Easton and Bethlehem for the SEC to take up the case.  Meanwhile, both the OCA and the Maine OPA have 30 days to seek rehearing of the decision to exclude them as intervenors, with possible appeals to the New Hampshire Supreme Court thereafter.

Helicopters and Drones!  Wow!

Meanwhile, Eversource has rolled out its propaganda machine.  The day after it persuaded the SEC to throw the ratepayer advocates out of the X-178 proceeding, the Company happened to persuade WMUR-TV (Channel 9) to run a big piece all about “emergency” repairs recently made to the X-178 line – featuring drones and helicopters!

“Forgive me for being cynical,” said Kreis.  “I just can’t bring myself to believe it was a coincidence that on the very day Eversource was before the Site Evaluation Committee getting us thrown out of the proceeding, the Company was out there with helicopters doing emergency repairs on the X-178  – and the video just happened to find its way to Channel 9.”

“I assume what we have here, at least in part, is drone video supplied by Eversource to WMUR, given that some of the shots were clearly not filmed at ground level” said Kreis.  “And, if so, what viewers saw on Channel 9 wasn’t just propaganda – it was ratepayer-funded propaganda.”

Why is Eversource pursuing these scorched-earth tactics in quest of rebuilding the X-178 line?  For exactly the same reason Willy Sutton robbed banks.  Despite all the attention received by Eversource's plan to raise distribution rates for residential customers by 48 percent (if the Public Utilities Commission approves), the company's transmission business, subject to laissez-faire regulation at the federal level, is far more lucrative.  "It's a guaranteed return on transmission investment north of 11 percent," noted Kreis.  "And every dime of that return comes straight out of the pockets of ratepayers, many of whom struggle to afford the essential public service that electricity has become."