WMECO to begin massive upgradesDate: 3/17/2010 March 17, 2010.
By Katelyn Gendron
Reminder Assistant Editor
The massive blackout of the northeast in 2003 shouldn't be repeated in Massachusetts and Connecticut thanks to Northeast Utilities largest transmission line upgrade in more than 35 years.
Provided Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) and its partner, Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P), receive their final permits and easement rights with abutters are finalized, project leaders will break ground on the $714 million Greater Springfield Reliability Project (GSRP) later this year, according to Frank Poirot, spokesperson for Northeast Utilities.
"It's important to note, while this work is going on it will not interrupt customers' service," he added. "We'll do our best to move this process along [with] a construction process that tries to limit impact on local facilities."
The upgrades will run along existing transmission lines in Agawam, Chicopee, Ludlow, Springfield and West Springfield. The GSRP includes a new 35-mile, 345-kilovolt transmission line connected to the 12-mile Manchester to Meekville Junction Circuit Separation Project (MMP) in Connecticut.
When asked about the status of negotiations with abutters to purchase easement rights, Poirot replied, "We are continuing to have constructive negotiations with neighbors along the existing transmission right of way in areas where the project needs additional space. The pace of the negotiations are moving forward rather well."
Poirot noted WMECO and CL&P are still waiting on federal and state permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Massachusetts Electrical Facilities Citing Board before breaking ground.
According to information released by the Army Corps of Engineers, the federal permit application was filed "in compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge or fill of material in United States Waters, including wetlands; and with Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, which provides for federal regulation of any work in, or affecting navigable waters in the United States."
Public comments regarding the permit application are encouraged and may be submitted online at www.nae.usace.army.mil or mailed to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Regulatory Division, Attn: Susan Lee, 696 Virginia Rd., Concord, MA 01742.
Poirot noted the project would incorporate more than 3,000 employees over the next three years, with a projected completion date between 2012 and 2013.
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