Underwater and Underground Transmission Line Nears Approval

Transmission Developers Inc.’s proposed 336-mile-long direct current Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) Transmission Line from the Canadian border to the New York City metropolitan area has been reviewed for the past 6 years and appears to be nearing approval (The Daily Mail). Most of the line will be buried below the bed of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, and the remainder will be buried underground along railroad tracks and public roads. The project’s anticipated completion date is 2017.

Transmission Developers Inc.’s website says, “The project is being developed by Transmission Developers Inc. which is a developer of high voltage direct current underwater transmission systems with proposed projects in Maine, Massachusetts, and New York. These projects create new economic opportunity by delivering electricity in an environmentally conscious way that respects local communities and has no impact on the viewshed.”

It is interesting that Albany-based Transmission Developers Inc. finds it economically feasible to build underwater and underground high voltage transmission lines, and so many other transmission companies in the U.S. and Canada say it is not possible. Based on extensive research by RETA, it is indeed economically feasible to bury DC and AC high voltage transmission lines. In fact, when you combine the capital, maintenance and transmission loss costs over the life of a line, buried lines can be less expensive than overhead lines. There are many advantages of burying high voltage lines including: safety, health, property value, environmental, and aesthetic.

~ by RETA on September 13, 2014.