By NANCY WEST
InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – Hard times keep getting harder in Franklin – so tough in fact, that the prospect of hosting a Northern Pass converter terminal provides a much-needed ray of hope, former city manager Elizabeth A. Dragon told the Site Evaluation Committee on Thursday.

The terminal will convert electricity from direct current to alternating current. From there, a new AC transmission line will carry the electricity to a substation in Deerfield, then onto the New England grid.

But more important even than the energy is the tax dollars the city desperately needs.

The tax benefit to Franklin would be about $7 million and Dragon said the city understands there will be some depreciation.

In Franklin, 24 percent of the population is living at or below the poverty level right now, Dragon said. “And just to give you sense of what has been happening in the community over the last 10 years, 453 homes were foreclosed on, that’s with a population of 8,500 people.”

The project is so important to Franklin that city councilors asked Dragon to continue promoting Northern Pass even though she took a new job four days ago as Keene’s city manager.

A big part of the job description for her replacement is for the candidate to understand and support Northern Pass, Dragon said.

Neither the Counsel for the Public, nor any of the intervenors wanted to cross-examine Dragon.

But one SEC member asked her what she thought Northern Pass would do for the city and how it would benefit its citizens.

The tax dollars from Northern Pass would give the community the opportunity to regroup in terms of funding, she said.

The population has remained stagnant over the last decade, Dragon said.

“An average of five to 10 homes a year are lost to the tax deeding process. Obviously poverty … is an issue and has been a problem since the closure of the mills,” Dragon said.

The school in particular is really struggling with a $1.1 million shortfall, she said.

“Every year we really have to struggle to find the funds to provide the services,” Dragon said. “And this provides them with the opportunity to assist with the school and deal with the infrastructure that has been delayed year after year.”

It’s really been just about getting by in terms of operations, she said.

Northern Pass won’t add more kids to the school or strain police and fire services.

“It’s strictly an increase in the tax base and that definitely means a lot to the community, which is why I’ve spent seven years advocating on behalf of this project,” Dragon said.

Committee Chair Martin Honigberg asked Dragon if the city’s tax cap that’s been in place for a while now had limited the city’s chances to grow.

She said there’s been a debate over the tax cap.

“But if you don’t have the money to get from the people residing there, you have to create the revenue,” Dragon said.

The committee had also recalled Northern Pass’ historical and archeological experts to testify on Thursday because an agreement outlining procedures to resolve mitigation issues had not been made available before their previous testimony in late August.

Cherilyn Widell and Dr. Victoria Bunker were questioned in detail by intervenors. The Programmatic Agreement relative to Northern Pass had been recently finalized by the U.S. Department of Energy. The agreement prescribes the steps to complete the federal and state agency reviews of historic and archeological resources.

On Friday, the committee will again cross-examine Northern Pass’ construction experts. Honigberg ordered their return for limited cross-examination about “purported inaccuracies” and exceptions the project is seeking from the Department of Transportation.

As a public service, InDepthNH.org publishes the websites for Northern Pass and its opponents at the end of every story along with information about how the adjudicative process works to site new transmission projects and our previous hearing coverage. Sign up for our free Friday newsletter  for Northern Pass and other news that matters in NH.

NORTHERN PASS WEBSITE

SITE EVALUATION COMMITTEE WEBSITE

GRANITE STATE POWER LINK

SAY NO TO NORTHERN PASS

PROTECT THE GRANITE STATE

How The Process Works Before The Site Evaluation Committee

Northern Pass’ website explains the hearings process as follows:

The SEC holds adjudicative hearings to consider and weigh evidence. The applicant has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that a Certificate should be issued. Expert witnesses submit testimony under oath and are subject to cross-examination.

Persons seeking to intervene must file a petition which demonstrates that the “petitioner’s rights, duties, privileges, immunities or other substantial interest might be affected by the proceeding.”

According to Northern Pass’ website: After an extensive adjudicative proceeding, the SEC will issue a Certificate of Site and Facility “if it finds that an applicant has adequate financial, technical, and managerial capability, that a project will not interfere with the orderly development of the region, that the project will not have an unreasonable adverse effect on aesthetics, historic sites, air and water quality, the natural environment, and public health and safety, and that the project will serve the public interest.”

Eversource had hoped to have all federal and state permits by the end of the year with construction to begin next year and the transmission line finished by the end of 2020.

Members of the subcommittee that will decide Northern Pass by a majority vote are Chairman Martin Honigberg, PUC, presiding officer; Commissioner Kathryn Bailey, PUC; Dir. Craig Wright, Department of Environmental Services; Christopher Way, Department of Business and Economic Affairs; William Oldenburg, Department of Transportation; Patricia Weathersby, public member; and Rachel Dandeneau, alternate public member.

InDepthNH.org’s comprehensive coverage of the SEC hearings on Northern Pass.

April 13, Day 1: Eversource NH Chief Quinlan On The Hot Seat At Northern Pass Hearing
April 14, Day 2: Eversource Chief Questioned About ‘Clean’ Energy Claims And Northern Pass Costs
April 17: Day 3: Eversource: Hydro-Quebec Revenues Could Fall Short In Northern Pass’ First Year
April 18: Day 4: Northern Pass’ Potential Health Concerns Debated At Hearing
April 19: Day 5: Concerns Raised About Northern Pass Affecting Health of Sherburne Woods Residents in Deerfield
April 30: Is NH Getting ‘Hoodwinked’ on Health and Safety By Northern Pass?
May 1: Day 6: Testimony: 44 New Access Roads Needed To Build 192-Mile Northern Pass in NH
May 2: Day 7: Northern Pass Expert: 3 Months of Construction Likely In Downtown Plymouth
May 3: Day 8: Project Official: Northern Pass Construction Limited To 7 am to 7 pm, Noise Assessed Daily
May 3: Eversource’s Chief Quinlan Listed as ‘Host’ For Sununu Fundraiser
May 4: Day 9: Grafton County Attorney Grills Northern Pass Experts On Land Buys
May 5: Day 9, story 2: Common Man’s Alex Ray: Northern Pass Disruption in Plymouth Would Be ‘Fatal’ To Business
May 8: Forest Society Calls Northern Pass Inflated Land Buys a ‘Shell Game’
May 25: Hydro-Quebec Explores Opportunities in New England, New York
May 31: InDepthNH.org, NHPR Talk Northern Pass With John Dankosky
May 31: Day 10: ‘Frac-Out’ Water Pollution Possible When Drilling To Bury Northern Pass
June 1: Day 11: Applicant: Northern Pass Would Mitigate Impact On Endangered State Butterfly
June 8: Day 12: Counsel for the Public: Northern Pass Financial Expert’s Perspective ‘Unnaturally Optimistic’
June 9: Day 13: Portions of Northern Pass Hearings Held In Closed Session, Again
June 12: Public Statement Hearings On Northern Pass Begin June 15
June 13: Day 14:  Analyst: Customer Using 300 kw Would Save $1.50 a Month With Northern Pass
June 14: Day 15: Regulator: Committee Could Consider Conditioning Approval for Northern Pass
June 15: Day 16: Speaking Out For and Against Northern Pass From Connecticut to Concord
June 16: Day 17: Forest Society Presses Environmental Benefits of Burying Northern Pass, Yale Responds To Critics About Land Leased To Northern Pass
June 21: Northern Pass Wants Controversial Yale-Bayroot Lease Kept Confidential
June 20: Day 18: Intervenors: Northern Pass Experts Failed To Identify All Impacted Wetlands
June 22: Day 19: Northern Pass Opponents Dominate SEC Hearing
June 23:  Day 20: Northern Pass Seeks 15 More Hearing Days For Total of 57
June 26: Day 21: SEC Members Quiz Northern Pass Experts On Wetland Protection
July 18: Day 22: Northern Pass Expert: Project Wouldn’t Hurt Tourism
July 19: Day 23: Site Evaluation Committee Members Criticize Northern Pass Expert on Tourism
July 20: Day 24: Pessamit Innu, Lawmakers, Citizens, Businesses All Have Their Say on Northern Pass
July 21: Day 25: Deputy Solicitor: Northern Pass’ Tax Breaks Not So Great for Concord Property Owners
July 27: More Competition & Northern Pass Commits $10M To Help Low-Income Mass. Customers
July 31: Day 26: Public Counsel Grills Northern Pass Expert On Property Value Impact
Aug. 1: Day 27: Northern Pass’ Real Estate Expert Questioned About Data Accuracy
Aug 2: Day 28: Northern Pass Real Estate Expert Concedes Power Lines ‘Thin The Market’
Aug. 3: Day 29: Northern Pass Expert Asked How 1,284 ‘Significant’ Properties Pared Down to 6
Aug. 9: Day 30: No End In Sight For Hearings on Northern Pass’ Controversial Plan
Aug. 29: Day 31: Intervenors Grill Northern Pass’ Historic Preservation Expert
Aug. 30: Day 32: Passionate People From Concord to Clarksville Speak Against Northern Pass
Aug. 31: Day 33: Panel Postpones Northern Pass Decision For Five More Months
Aug. 31: Committee Blasts Eversource For Late Access To ‘Crucial’ Northern Pass Agreement
Sept. 5: 31 Northern Pass Hearings Added; Delay Prompts Lively Facebook Exchange
Sept. 11: Day 34: Counsel: Northern Pass Expert Failed To Survey Public About Scenery Impact
Sept. 12: Day 35: Northern Pass Expert: Views Could Be Worse If Owners Cut Trees Along Route
Sept. 13: Day 36: Chairman Limits Upcoming Cross-Examination By Northern Pass Intervenors
Sept. 15: Day 37: Visual Expert: Exactly Where 52 Miles Of Northern Pass Would Be Buried Still Unknown
Sept. 18: Day 38: Ex-SEC Chairman Varney Grilled As Northern Pass’ Land Use Expert
Sept. 19: Day 39: SEC Chair: New Evidence Indicates Potential Inaccuracies in Northern Pass’ Burial Plans
Sept. 21: Day 40: Study: Granite State Power Link Bests Northern Pass On CO2 Reductions
Sept. 22: Day 41: Grafton County’s Lara Saffo Asks: Should Landowners Trust Northern Pass?
Sept. 25: Day 42: Panel Chair Accuses Intervenor Of Trying To Delay Northern Pass Hearing
Union Reps Tout Northern Pass Jobs
Sept. 26: Day 43:SEC Member: Northern Pass Could Cost Taxpayers More For Public Construction Projects