This commentary is by Fred Saar, a resident of Waterford.
Recognizing the critical role large energy transmission projects will play in our fight against climate change, the federal government has developed the Transmission Facilitation Program, in which new transmission projects across the country compete for federal support from the Department of Energy.
Only one of these competing projects, the Twin States Clean Energy Link, will deliver both clean power to New England with minimal environmental impacts and significant economic benefits to the region of Vermont that needs them the most, the Northeast Kingdom.
I have proudly called the NEK my home for 20 years. Throughout this time, I have worked hard to help improve the economics of the region, both in my role as a selectboard member and as a board member of the Northeastern Vermont Development Association.
The NEK is the most economically challenged region in Vermont, with the highest rates of poverty, lowest household income and highest median age. While Twin States won’t fix all of this, it will provide significant economic benefits that can help us begin to reverse these longstanding trends. All of this can be accomplished while protecting the environment and the natural beauty and splendor of the Kingdom.
The Twin States Clean Energy Link is a new electric transmission line that would deliver 1,200 megawatts of clean, renewable energy from Quebec to New England. This project, proposed by National Grid and nonprofit Citizens Energy, would be buried along existing paved roads from Canaan to Lunenburg, where it would go under the Connecticut River to New Hampshire.
By burying the line under existing roads, the project would have no visual or health impacts on residents or visitors and virtually no environmental impacts.
In Vermont, my contact with National Grid began in 2017 when representatives came to present a previous version of this transmission project (the Granite State Power Link) to my town’s selectboard. I was, and remain, impressed by their outreach and willingness to listen and learn from the host communities.
One of the messages we and our neighboring communities imparted to them at that time was how critical the beauty of our natural landscape is to Vermonters. Transmission lines, while necessary, are ugly. Taking this into account, National Grid went back to the drawing board and came back with a proposal to bury the Twin States line underground along existing roadways, preserving the pristine beauty of our state and saving hundreds of acres of forest from being cleared for its installation.
Twin States will also deliver substantial economic benefits to our rural communities. The project is projected to generate between at least $600,000 and $775,000 in property tax revenues annually for each of the seven Vermont route communities.
The impact of this is not complicated; towns will either be able to use this property tax revenue to reduce property taxes for all residents or keep their tax rates the same and use the funds for various projects. As a longtime selectboard member, it is hard to describe how transformational this money could be for small NEK communities.
The project is also partnering with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and will create, on average, 450 new good-paying jobs annually during construction. And by bringing additional clean energy to the New England grid, it is anticipated the project will save Vermont electric ratepayers an average of $43 million a year in the first 12 years of operation.
National Grid has also proposed a financial package totaling hundreds of millions of dollars to go toward pursuing community-identified needs and projects in Vermont and New Hampshire. Project priorities will be driven by the communities themselves and may include community solar investments, energy assistance, weatherization, and workforce development and housing.
To deploy some of these funds, National Grid is partnering with the Northeastern Vermont Development Association, which will provide millions of dollars to NEK communities through its grant programs and revolving loan funds. With federal recovery funds expiring soon, these dollars will be critical to the region’s economic viability and future success.
The benefits of the Twin States project are clear. The project will have no visual impact, no health impact, and virtually no environmental impact. What Twin States will have is a meaningful impact in the fight against climate change and a significant and positive impact on the NEK’s challenging economy.
As the U.S. Department of Energy considers the transmission projects competing for federal support, I and so many others in Vermont urge Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and the Grid Deployment Office to support the project that is the clear winner in the fight to mitigate climate change and the only project that will bolster rural Vermont.
