A Massachusetts company wants to build an underwater transmission line from Plattsburgh to Burlington, Vt. that could give New York energy producers access to a new market.
Anbaric Transmission hopes to build an underwater line beneath Lake Champlain that could deliver 400 megawatts of wind and hydropower generated in northern New York to New England.
Anbaric officials say the project is a win-win for both regions.
"New England was simply not going to be able to generate all the renewable energy that it wants to buy and so New York had the opposite problem - they could generate more than they could transmit down state," says Anbaric CEO Ed Krapels.
Krapels says he hopes the line will encourage new investment in North Country wind farms.
"It essentially creates new capacity for existing wind farms but I think more important is it creates new capacity for new wind farms," he says.
Anbaric is in the process of determining the best route under the lake.
In order to finance the line, they’re seeking customers in Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
They’re also seeking permits from New York, Vermont and the Army Corps of Engineers, a process Krapels says could take around two years.
