Commonwealth of Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board

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Commonwealth of Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS ENERGY FACILITIES SITING BOARD In the Matter of the Petition of NSTAR Electric ) Company for Approval to Construct and Operate ) EFSB 10-2 New Overhead 345 kV Transmission Facilities, ) and Construct a New 345 kV to 115 kV ) Substation in the Town of Barnstable and to ) Modify Various other Ancillary Facilities in the ) Towns of Carver, Plymouth, Bourne, and ) Sandwich ) ) In the Matter of the Petition of NSTAR Electric ) Company for Approval to Construct and Operate ) D.P.U. 10-131 Transmission Facilities, pursuant to G.L. c. 164, ) § 72 ) ) In the Matter of the Petition of NSTAR Electric ) Company for Individual and Comprehensive ) D.P.U. 10-132 Zoning Exemptions, pursuant to G.L. c. 40A, § 3 ) ) FINAL DECISION M. Kathryn Sedor Presiding Officer April 27, 2012 On the Decision: Lauren Morris John Young i APPEARANCES David S. Rosenzweig, Esq. Erika J. Hafner, Esq. Michael J. Koehler, Esq. Keegan Werlin LLP 265 Franklin Street Boston, MA 02110 FOR: NSTAR Electric Company Petitioner Eric J. Krathwohl, Esq. Rich May, A Professional Corporation 176 Federal Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02110 -and- Kevin Flynn, Esq. ISO New England, Inc. One Sullivan Road Holyoke, MA 01040 FOR: ISO New England, Inc. Intervenor Patrick J. Tarmey, Esq. Jesse S. Reyes, Esq. Massachusetts Attorney General Office of Ratepayer Advocacy One Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108 FOR: Massachusetts Attorney General Intervenor Jo Ann Bodemer, Esq. Audrey A. Eidelman, Esq. Jeffrey Bernstein, Esq. BCK Law, P.C. One Gateway Center, #809 Newton, MA 02158 FOR: Town of Sandwich Intervenor ii Mary Beth Gentleman, Esq. Amy E. Boyd, Esq. Zachary Gerson, Esq. Foley Hoag LLP Seaport West 155 Seaport Boulevard Boston, MA 02210 FOR: GenOn Canal, LLC Intervenor Kerry J. LaLiberte 1 Dawn Way Carver, MA 02330 Intervenor Kathryn Armstrong 735 Oak Street West Barnstable, MA 02668 Intervenor Frederick W. Weston P.O. Box 164 South Carver, MA 002366 Limited Participant Mary O’Donnell 54 Grove Street Kingston, MA 02364 Limited Participant iii TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 A. Summary of the Project .................................................................................................... 1 B. Procedural History ............................................................................................................ 2 II. JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW UNDER G.L. c. 164, § 69J .................. 3 III. Need ..................................................................................................................................... 4 A. Standard of Review .......................................................................................................... 4 B. The Existing Transmission System in Lower SEMA ...................................................... 5 1. Description.................................................................................................................... 5 2. History of Transmission Issues in Lower SEMA ......................................................... 7 C. Description of Company’s Demonstration of Need ....................................................... 13 1. Regional/National Context for Company Reliability Planning .................................. 13 2. Federal, NERC, and NPCC Requirements ................................................................. 15 3. Description of the Company’s Reliability and Need Analysis ................................... 17 D. Positions of the Parties ................................................................................................... 22 E. Analysis and Findings on Need ...................................................................................... 25 IV. Alternative Approaches to Meeting the Identified Need ................................................... 29 A. Standard of Review ........................................................................................................ 29 B. Project Approaches Identified by NSTAR ..................................................................... 30 1. Non-Transmission Alternatives Identified by NSTAR .............................................. 30 2. Transmission Alternatives Identified by NSTAR ...................................................... 32 3. NSTAR Assessment of Project Alternatives .............................................................. 34 C. Project Approaches Evaluated by ISO-NE .................................................................... 34 D. Project Approaches Evaluated During the Proceeding .................................................. 35 1. Load Shedding ............................................................................................................ 35 2. Reducing Net Load ..................................................................................................... 37 3. Operation of Existing Canal Units.............................................................................. 39 4. New Generation at Canal ............................................................................................ 40 E. Positions of the Parties ................................................................................................... 41 1. NSTAR ....................................................................................................................... 41 2. ISO-NE ....................................................................................................................... 43 3. GenOn ......................................................................................................................... 44 4. Sandwich .................................................................................................................... 46 5. Attorney General ........................................................................................................ 48 iv F. Analysis and Findings on Project Approaches .................................................................. 48 V. Route and Site Alternatives .................................................................................................. 53 A. Route Selection .............................................................................................................. 53 1. Standard of Review .................................................................................................... 53 2. The Company’s Route Selection Process ................................................................... 54 3. Geographic Diversity .................................................................................................. 56 4. Conclusions on Route Selection ................................................................................. 56 B. Environmental Impacts of Transmission Line ............................................................... 57 1. Standard of Review .................................................................................................... 57 2. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 57 3. Wetlands and Water Resources .................................................................................. 58 4. Land Resources and Historic Resources .................................................................... 61 5. Noise Impacts ............................................................................................................. 65 6. Visual Impacts ............................................................................................................ 68 7. EMF Impacts .............................................................................................................. 72 8. Traffic ......................................................................................................................... 76 9. Air Impacts ................................................................................................................. 78 10. Other Impacts ............................................................................................................. 78 C. Cost................................................................................................................................. 79 D. Reliability ....................................................................................................................... 80 E. Conclusions on Route Comparison ................................................................................ 81 F. Substations ......................................................................................................................... 81 1. Terminal Substation .................................................................................................... 81 2. Carver Substation ....................................................................................................... 89 3. Bourne Switching Station ........................................................................................... 90 G. Monitoring Project Cost ................................................................................................. 90 H. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 92 VI. CONSISTENCY WITH POLICIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH ............................... 92 A. Standard of Review .......................................................................................................
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