The Vermont Green Line is a proposed direct current electric transmission project that will carry 400 megawatts of clean, renewable energy to the New England grid and bring numerous benefits to the region. As the developers of the project, one of the most important aspects of the project for us is that the project is supported by and delivers benefits to its host communities.
We are proposing to build one of the Vermont Green Line converter stations in New Haven. We have been engaging with town officials and residents for many months now to make this a project that reflects our collaboration with the community. Unfortunately, several inaccurate statements were made about the project at New Haven’s recent town meeting and we wanted to take this opportunity to clear up any confusion that may exist.
When we initially proposed the project our plan was to install two underground cables (one positive, one negative) with a total capacity of 800 megawatts. The converter stations were initially proposed to be built to convert 400 megawatts of power into the grid, leaving open the possibility of upgrading the converters to a capacity of 800 MW to match the line capacity at some point in the distant future. After hearing numerous concerns from the residents of New Haven about the prospect of 800 megawatts going into the grid in New Haven, we modified our proposal in December so that we would be installing the two underground cables (again, one positive, one negative) with the total capacity of only 400 megawatts. This commitment has not and will not change.
Information we handed out at our public meeting in February and on our website incorrectly stated the prior planned capacity of the line. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused and are taking steps to confirm our commitment to build the proposed transmission line to 400 megawatts with no plan to increase the capacity in the future.
We maintain our pledge that the Vermont Green Line will not move forward without the support of the town of New Haven. At Town Meeting Day we heard that most New Haven residents would like to have a vote of this project by Australian ballot, a process that we support and whose outcome we will honor.
If you have any questions about the Vermont Green Line project please visit our website at www.vermontgreenline.com.
Joe Rossignoli
Director, U.S. Business Development
National Grid
Waltham, Mass.