Some local towns want a greater voice and state oversight in a utility asset condition project

Some local towns want a greater voice and state oversight in a utility asset condition project that they say still poses unanswered questions. Citing concerns from taller towers to impacts to wetlands, new access roads and information that company representatives omitted at one town’s May 8 planning board meeting, three municipalities will petition the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee to oversee Eversource Energy’s proposed X-178 transmission line rebuild. On Monday, at the request of Easton Selectman Bob Thibault, the Bethlehem Select Board signed onto a letter, which also includes the town of Sugar Hill, asking the NHSEC to assume jurisdiction and oversight of Eversource’s 115-kilovolt line replacement, a segment of which runs nearly 50 miles from Whitefield to Campton, including 12 miles through the White Mountain National Forest, and is part of a total estimated $400 million line rebuild through several counties.