Electric Co-op Today

A New Hampshire electric cooperative is linking four of its substations to improve system reliability for about 25 percent of its consumer-members.

New Hampshire Electric Co-op’s Jay Hutchison surveys a right of way similar to one being upgraded to improve reliability and serve a proposed wind farm. (Photo By: Seth Wheeler, NHEC)

Officials also say the work being done will position the co-op to deliver power from a proposed wind farm to the power grid serving much of New England.

“We don’t have any ownership interest in the Groton Wind Power Project, but it is located in our service territory,” said Seth Wheeler, communications administrator for New Hampshire Electric Cooperative. “In the event that developers receive all of their approvals, they will be able to attach to our poles.”

The Granite State’s only rural electric cooperative is upgrading an existing seven-mile distribution corridor. During the next eight months, the co-op plans to replace 45- and 50-foot-tall poles with poles 10 feet taller.

The new poles will have space for the co-op’s lines, and capacity for two lines needed to connect 24 400-foot-high wind turbines along two ridges in the town of Groton.

The co-op-served community is within the most densely populated section of New Hampshire Electric’s service territory. The new lines will enable the co-op to backfeed power between four substations when one is de-energized for maintenance or by power outages.

“The redundant ties will help us maintain service to our consumer-members,” Wheeler said. “At least 20,000 of our members will benefit.”

Iberdrola Renewables has received most of the necessary approvals for the 48-megawatt wind farm, but has yet to begin construction. Company officials have projected completion of construction of the $100 million project for later this year.

Investor-owned Northeast Utilities is expected to build a substation near Holderness, N.H., to handle the turbines’ output, potentially enough energy to power 58,000 homes.

“This project will improve service reliability in the core of our service territory,” said Jay Hutchison, engineering manager for the co-op. “It will also support the growth of homegrown renewable energy here in New Hampshire.”

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Tags: Power Lines, Power Supply, Renewable Energy, Transmission and Distribution, Wind Energy