National Grid plc Eyes Canada-U.S. Route

CALGARY - National Grid Plc., owner of electricity networks in Britain and the U.S., may join Emera Inc. and Spectra Energy Corp. in building a $2 billion high-voltage power line to help link generators in Canada with markets in southern New England.

A feasibility study is being conducted for the project, according to a statement on Wednesday from London-based National Grid and Emera, which is based in Halifax. An initial stage of the line from near

Bangor, Maine, to Massachusetts would have the capacity to transmit 660 megawatts of electricity, they said.

The 322-kilometre line, proposed to regulators in December, would help states in the U.S. Northeast reduce their reliance on coal-fueled power plants that emit greenhouse gases linked to global warming, Jennifer Nicholson, a spokeswoman for Emera, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Calgary Herald