Northeast Utilities Teams with Burns & McDonnell in $1.49 Billion Upgrade to New England's Electrical Grid

Nov. 18, 2008
Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 17 – Burns & McDonnell has been contracted by Northeast Utilities to provide program management services on one of the largest electric transmission line project currently under development in the United States. A group of ...

Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 17 – Burns & McDonnell has been contracted by Northeast Utilities to provide program management services on one of the largest electric transmission line project currently under development in the United States.

A group of transmission projects, called the New England East-West Solution (NEEWS), are designed to resolve critical reliability issues identified by ISO-New England (ISO-NE), New England's bulk power system operator, and strengthen the interconnections between Massachusetts and Connecticut by upgrading the transmission network to meet regional and national reliability standards. NEEWS will also provide added economic and environmental benefits by enhancing access to cleaner, competitively priced energy electricity, including renewable resources.

NEEWS is comprised of four transmission reliability projects that traverse areas in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Northeast Utilities is responsible for the Greater Springfield Reliability Project, the Connecticut portion of the Interstate Reliability Project and the Central Connecticut Reliability Project. National Grid is responsible for the Massachusetts and Rhode Island portions of the Interstate Reliability Project and the Rhode Island Reliability Project.The following is a brief description of the Northeast Utilities NEEWS projects:

•The Greater Springfield Reliability Project (GSRP) will provide approximately 97 circuit- miles of new and upgraded 345-kV and 115-kV electric transmission lines between North Bloomfield CT and Ludlow, MA. The project will also include the upgrade or development of 13 substations.

•The Connecticut portion of the Interstate Reliability Project will consist of 38 circuit-miles of new 345-kV electric transmission line located in eastern Connecticut. The circuit will connect the Card Street Substation in Lebanon, CT., to the National Grid system at the Rhode Island border. The project will also include upgrades to three substations.

•The Central Connecticut Reliability Project (CCRP) will add approximately 37 circuit-miles of 345-kV transmission line between North Bloomfield, CT., and Watertown, CT. The project will also include upgrades to four substations.

As program manager, Burns & McDonnell will provide project management, engineering, project controls, community relations support, safety management, procurement, and construction management services along with siting and permitting support for Northeast Utilities' portions of the project.

Informational open houses in communities along the route have already begun and will continue throughout the fall of 2008. Construction is expected to begin mid 2010.

Burns & McDonnell will be using its trailblazing OneTouchPMâ„¢ tool to help manage the project. OneTouchPMâ„¢ tool is a proprietary software package that blends GoogleEarth, geographic information systems and construction management software to allow project managers to “see” data in a real-world environment.

“Burns & McDonnell is very excited about this opportunity. The NEEWS Project represents one of the largest transmission upgrades in the country and will be managed by a world-class team from Burns & McDonnell and Northeast Utilities,” said Brett Williams, associate vice president of Burns & McDonnell. “I expect great results for our client and their customers.”

For more information on the NEEWS Projects, please visit the Northeast Utilities web page at www.NEEWSprojects.com. Northeast Utilities operates New England's largest utility system serving more than two million electric and natural gas customers in Connecticut, western Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell provides engineering, architecture, construction, environmental and consulting services to clients throughout North America and abroad. More than 2,800 engineers, architects, scientists, planners, estimators, economists, technicians and other professionals work in 20 offices located throughout the U.S. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned. For more information about Burns & McDonnell, visit its Web site at www.burnsmcd.com.

Contact:

Roger Dick

Phone: 816-822-33339

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