In win for Avangrid, FERC orders NextEra to install Seabrook circuit breaker, opening path for NECEC line

Dive Brief:

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered NextEra Energy Resources to install a circuit breaker at its Seabrook nuclear plant in New Hampshire, an upgrade needed for Avangrid’s New England Clean Energy Connect, or NECEC, transmission project.
“Good utility practice” requires NextEra to replace the circuit breaker before Avangrid interconnects NECEC to equipment at the Seabrook plant, FERC said in a decision issued Wednesday. Failing to upgrade the circuit breaker threatens grid reliability, according to the agency.
Following two “constructive” court rulings in Maine, FERC’s decision is a win for the NECEC project, which aims to deliver power from Canada to Massachusetts, according to ClearView Energy Partners. “The commission's action on the complaint helps put NECEC on the path to overcoming another important hurdle,” the research firm said in a client note.

Dive Insight:

The issue centers on the roughly $1 billion NECEC project, a planned 145-mile power line in Maine that is designed to deliver 9.45 million MWh a year from Hydro-Québec to Massachusetts utilities. The 320-kV, direct current project grew out of a request for proposals by Massachusetts regulators for renewable energy.

The project has been delayed, partly by a 2021 referendum that aimed to halt it. NextEra contributed $20 million to a political action group supporting the referendum, according to Maine’s election office. The power from Hydro-Québec is expected to lower wholesale power prices in New England, which could reduce revenue for independent power plant owners in the region, such as NextEra.

In the dispute at FERC, Avangrid argued NextEra was delaying replacing the Seabrook circuit breaker in an effort to block the NECEC project. NextEra rejected those charges.

FERC largely ruled in Avangrid’s favor.

“The Seabrook [large generator interconnection agreement] does not permit Seabrook to refuse to replace the breaker when replacement is needed for reliable operation of the Seabrook Station and given the concerns in the record related to the impact of any unreliable station operation on the reliable operation of the system,” the agency said.

FERC also rejected NextEra’s argument that Avangrid should pay opportunity and legal costs. NextEra argued it could lose up to $560,000 a day in revenue if there was an extended outage at the plant to replace the breaker.

NextEra expects to replace the circuit breaker during a fall 2024 refueling outage under an engineering and procurement agreement between the company and NECEC Transmission, an Avangrid subsidiary. The NECEC line is slated to operate by the end of 2024, according to the agreement.

However, legal hurdles remain for the NECEC line.

The Maine Judicial Supreme Court in August ruled Avangrid can move ahead with NECEC if the company shows it engaged in “substantial” construction on the project before Maine voters approved the ballot initiative blocking the effort. Oral arguments on the issue are scheduled for April, according to ClearView.

The supreme court also in November vacated a lower court ruling that a state agency improperly leased public land for a 1-mile stretch of the project.