Eversource eyes new electrical line between Dot, South Boston

A handout from Eversource shows the preferred route of the new underground transmission line. More here.

As part of a broader regional effort to boost electrical service, Eversource is planning to build a new transmission line between Andrew Square and Savin Hill. The process will kick off with two public meetings this month to brief the community on potential impacts on the public as the work is being done.

Under one plan, Eversource would create a new service line connecting two existing electrical substations, at Dewar Street in Savin Hill, and Andrew Square in South Boston. The line would be capable of carrying higher voltage loads while also increasing the reliability of the existing infrastructure, Eversource officials said.

Eversource expects that construction work could begin in 2020 if the project is permitted.

“This is a project of regional importance to maintain electric reliability and one of many we’re undertaking or planning across the Greater Boston and MetroWest regions,” said spokesman Michael Durand in an email. “Essentially, by creating a high-voltage connection between two existing substations, this particular project will provide additional options for getting power to where it’s needed most to meet the current and future demand for electricity.”

There are a few options for the route of the new line, said spokeswoman Priscilla Ress. “The preferred route is the Morrissey Boulevard corridor,” she said, adding that Eversource will be working with city and state entities like the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) on logistics.
The Morrissey stretch is controlled by the DCR and is in line for a major renovation as a parkway better suited to environmental factors that often leave the major throughway flooded multiple times a year.

No plans on the new line have been filed with the Department of Public Utilities, Ress said, although the company expects to do so by the end of the year. It is in a “design and engineering state” at the moment, she said.

Eversource is working with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to nail down how long the construction will take and “how do you have the least impact on the communities where this is going.”

Which brings them to the open houses.

Representatives with the energy company will brief residents at two meetings this month — Next Wednesday (Oct. 10) at the St. Monica-St. Augustine church in South Boston from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Thurs., Oct. 11, at Carson Place in Dorchester, also from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Discussions at the meetings will be enhanced by graphics of the preferred route for the line and a possible secondary route. More information on the projected timeline will also be shared with the neighborhoods.

“All of that is what the open house is for,” Ress said. “We’re planning to get feedback as well and share the nuts and bolts of what it means to have a new transmission line. It’s good for the community if you have a robust electrical system and we need to make sure those communities are getting reliable, consistent service.”

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