State Supreme Court hears from both sides on Northern Pass

CONCORD, N.H. — Lawyers for a company that lost a bid to build a project to bring hydropower from Canada to markets in southern New England told the New Hampshire Supreme Court that a state committee that made the decision failed to do its job.

Last year, the state’s Site Evaluation Committee denied the Northern Pass over concerns from communities and environmentalists that it would harm the region’s tourism industry and hurt property values. Project leader Eversource argued the committee failed to consider all the evidence and misapplied its own rules.

The ruling prompted Massachusetts to abandon its plans to get clean energy from the $1.6 billion project, which calls for constructing a 192-mile (308-kilometre) transmission line.

Both sides on Wednesday presented their case to the court, which will issue a ruling in the coming months.

Michael Casey, The Associated Press