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56-607: The plant was shut down in June 2022 and is scheduled to be demolished. The generators have been sold and dismantling had begun in the summer of 2022 with the jet turbine disconnected and removed from the site by August 2022. The station is located south of the Memorial Bridge in West Springfield, Massachusetts . The power plant and the adjacent West Springfield Substation were built in 1949 by Western Massachusetts Electric Company ,

112-470: A less massive substructure. By the 1990s, the concrete above the arches was suffering from advanced Alkali-Silica Reactivity (ASR) attack. The 1996 rehabilitation project replaced the entire deck system. The decorative architectural elements were replaced either in kind using cast stone or replaced with architectural fiberglass reproductions. The viaduct over the railroad was replaced with adjacent precast/prestressed deck beams made continuous. This project

168-442: A new substation across the street, and configuring a new 115 kV line from South Agawam to Southwick using a combination of both new and old line segments of the former 115 kV path between Agawam and North Bloomfield. The new Cadwell and Fairmont switching stations allowed a number of three-terminal 115 kV lines to be broken up into two-terminal lines. Finally, the project allowed a problematic underground 115 kV transmission path through

224-491: A nine-span reinforced concrete slab viaduct. Each of the river spans is made up of five Melan-type, two-hinged, reinforced-concrete arch ribs of parabolic profile. The bridge's longest ribs have a center to center span of 209 feet (64 m) and a rise of 29.71 feet (9.06 m); the ribs of the other spans vary from 176.5 to 121 feet (53.8 to 36.9 m) in length, with rises from 29.2 to 19.1 feet (8.9 to 5.8 m). The three interior ribs in each span are grouped together near

280-468: A subsidiary of Northeast Utilities (now Eversource Energy ). The original station consisted of two simple-cycle steam units (Units 1 and 2) which burned both oil and coal at different periods of their existence. Unit 3 was added in 1957 and the jet turbine was added in 1969. In 1999 the Station was acquired by Con Edison and the plant's corporate name became Con Edison Energy Massachusetts , Inc. By that time,

336-431: Is a joint venture owned by AllCapital and IFM . Essential Power was subsequently acquired by Cogentrix Energy, under ownership of funds managed by The Carlyle Group . In 2019, the plant did not receive a contract to supply peak power and the owners decided to decommission it. Steam Units 1 and 2 are permanently retired as of December 31, 2000 (last used in 1999) and the boilers are currently being decommissioned. During

392-567: Is a reinforced-concrete arch bridge that spans the Connecticut River between Springfield, Massachusetts and West Springfield, Massachusetts , constructed in 1922. The bridge is owned by Massachusetts Highway Department and is located on Massachusetts Route 147 . It spans 209 feet (64 m) and rises 29.71 feet (9.06 m) above the river. The Connecticut River was first bridged at Springfield in 1805, by an open wooden bridge said to have been "mongrel in style." It collapsed in 1814 and

448-464: Is also New Hampshire's largest electric utility, serving over 500,000 customers, including homes and businesses, in 211 cities and towns throughout the state. Furthermore, Eversource is a major energy distributor to 1.7 million customers across Massachusetts, including over 1.4 million electric customers in 140 communities and over 300,000 natural gas customers in 51 communities. The Rocky River Power Company, formed in 1905 by J. Henry Roraback , became

504-901: Is reviewing the findings, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to open an investigation on the matter, and both the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and the Massachusetts Public Utilities Department are launching inquiries of their own. On Feb. 27, 2018, FERC announced their investigation “revealed no evidence of anticompetitive withholding of natural gas pipeline capacity on Algonquin Gas Transmission by New England shippers.” It said that following an extensive review Commission staff “determined that EDF’s study

560-720: The Northfield Mountain hydroelectric facility ) were transferred to Northeast Generation. In 2001, NU sold the assets and operations of its subsidiary, the Holyoke Water Power Company, to the City of Holyoke including the HWP electrical distribution system and customer base and all generation with the exception of the Mt. Tom coal-fired power plant which NU retained. The city's municipal gas and electric department assumed responsibility for

616-451: The CTGs are much more desirable as peaking units than the original boilers. In addition, the CTGs emit far less air pollution and require far less cooling water. Each exhaust housing contains selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and an oxidation catalyst system for the control of nitrogen oxides (NOx). The company did not install a heat recovery steam generator with these units. The plant used

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672-541: The Connecticut Light and Power Company in 1917. Eversource predecessor Northeast Utilities (NU) was formed on July 1, 1966, under CEO Lelan Sillin , with the merger of the Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P, formed in 1917), Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO, formed in 1886), and the Hartford Electric Light Company (HELCO, formed in 1878) under a single parent company, creating

728-595: The Connecticut River as its source of cooling water. Unit 3, as a steam unit, had to reject waste heat from its condenser to a water source. A once-through cooling system utilizing water from the river removed waste heat from Unit 3's condenser. The circulating water pumps are located in the plant's pump house across the highway from the facility directly on the Connecticut River. Unit 3 could require up to 6 million gallons per day of water when operating. Units 1, 2, and 10 rejected all of their waste heat from combustion to

784-616: The Democratic Governors Association in 2016, and payments made to trade associations that were used for lobbying or other political activities in excess of $ 135,000. In Massachusetts, Attorney General Maura Healey testified in March, 2017 before the DPU urging it to deny Eversource's proposed $ 300 million rate increase. In her testimony, she challenged the need for Eversource's rate increase, noting NSTAR's and WMECo's high returns over

840-491: The Hampden County Commissioners opened hearings to discuss construction of a new bridge, but it wasn't until the winter of 1918/19 that the location and overall design of the present concrete arch bridge were finally agreed upon. The main construction contract (at $ 3,254,883 ( US$ 98,030,000 with inflation )) was let to H.P. Converse on April 3, 1920; the completed bridge was opened to traffic on August 3, 1922. At

896-531: The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities on Thursday approved a much-reduced rate hike for Eversource Energy that will allow it to charge its Massachusetts electric customers tens of millions of dollars more a year. On December 20, 2017, Attorney General Maura Healey appealed the DPU ruling in the Eversource rate case, specifically the DPU's approval of a costly 10 percent shareholder return, one of

952-559: The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee voted unanimously to deny Eversource's controversial Northern Pass project a permit, leaving the future of the project, and $ 1.6 billion of Eversource's Transmission Rate Base Growth Projections in doubt. On July 26, 2019, Eversource Energy announced that it was giving up Northern Pass after the New Hampshire Supreme Court rejected its appeal and sided with

1008-541: The New Hampshire generation fleet was approved by the state's Public Utilities Commission on November 29, 2017, and completed on January 10, 2018. In June 2017 Eversource announced its merger with Aquarion Water Company for $ 1.675 billion. Aquarion would become a fully owned subsidiary and retain its own name, adding 300 employees and 230,000 customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In December 2017,

1064-550: The SEC. While Eversource reported that its electric transmission earnings were up 80 percent in Q2 2015, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is now investigating the utility for having transmission rates that appear to be “unjust, unreasonable and unduly discriminatory or preferential”. Meanwhile, the potential for rooftop solar to prevent the need for new transmission lines is growing and Eversource wants to cap rooftop solar growth in

1120-664: The White Mountains. This 180- to 190-mile line, projected to carry 1,200 megawatts, would have carried electricity to approximately one million homes. The issue of buying hydropower from Hydro-Québec had been an issue during the Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2010 . In November 2015, the Sierra Club of New Hampshire also expressed opposition for the new line, saying that it would not only benefit Connecticut and Massachusetts residents more than those in New Hampshire, but also

1176-548: The atmosphere via the exhaust stacks. However, Units 1 and 2 required a small amount of cooling water to remove heat from the lubricating oil system for the turbines. A small service water system operating at 730 gpm continuously provided cooling water for that purpose. Unit 10 did not require any cooling water at all. Units 1 and 2 had an operational constraint of 4800 hours/year based on the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) Air Quality Plan Approval. The MA DEP has recently granted approval to NAEA to operate

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1232-574: The bridge on the south side that were removed when the bridge was upgraded several years ago. The four plaques on the central towers honor the original colonists, and veterans of the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War, and World War I. The 1922 Memorial Bridge includes the longest single concrete arch span in Massachusetts. Its self-supporting steel rib arches represent an uncommon refinement of Melan's original idea – by making

1288-487: The center of the roadway where a streetcar line was originally located. The two outer ribs are more widely spaced and carry thin concrete fascia walls concealing an open-spandrel design. Reinforced-concrete spandrel columns carry the reinforced-concrete roadway. The viaduct spans the rail yard consists of a reinforced concrete slab deck carried by transverse bents of concrete-encased structural steel. The piers are granite-faced reinforced-concrete. There were two gargoyles above

1344-493: The ceremonies held that day, the bridge was dedicated as a memorial to "those who had died as pioneers, and soldiers in the Revolutionary, Civil and Foreign Wars." The bridge was designed by Fay Spofford & Thorndike , with Haven & Hoyt, architects. When the bridge was refurbished in 1992, Fay Spofford & Thorndike was again involved. The Memorial Bridge features a seven-span, reinforced-concrete deck rib arches, with

1400-522: The city of Springfield that was vulnerable to thermal overloads to be removed from service by breaking it in half at the middle. The underground lines now function solely to supply the distribution load served out of the Breckwood substation in Springfield. A previously proposed costly project that would have replaced the underground cables is no longer necessary. On November 20, 2013, cutover of 115 kV lines to

1456-445: The company and all its subsidiaries rebranded themselves as " Eversource Energy ". The stock symbol changed on February 19, 2015, from "NU" to "ES". Before its rebranding, the company operated six main subsidiaries: Connecticut Light and Power (CL&P), Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH), Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO), Yankee Gas Services Company (Yankee Gas), NSTAR Electric, and NSTAR Gas. NSTAR itself

1512-499: The company divested all of the generating assets of WMECO and CL&P per requirements of the Massachusetts and Connecticut legislation. The company retained some of these assets by transferring them to a new subsidiary called Northeast Generation which functioned as a competitive supplier and sold the other assets entirely: WMECO's West Springfield Generating Station and several related hydroelectric and fossil fuel generating units were sold to Con Edison, while other assets (most notably

1568-666: The company had essentially completed the divestiture of its competitive businesses. In 2006, NU decided to sell the generating units it had earlier retained in the 1999 divestiture as competitive suppliers and shut down its competitive generation business units. The Northeast Generation assets, including Mount Tom Station and Northfield Mountain, were all sold to Energy Capital Partners . PSNH continued to operate regulated hydroelectric and fossil fuel generation assets to serve its default/basic service customers who did not choose an alternative competitive supplier. In October 2010, Northeast Utilities announced that it would merge with NSTAR ,

1624-597: The company signed on a joint venture with Hydro-Québec and NSTAR to build a new high-voltage direct current (HVDC) line from Windsor, Quebec (connecting with the Quebec grid ) to a location in Franklin, New Hampshire . It was projected that the line would either run in an existing right-of-way adjacent to the HVDC line that runs through New Hampshire, or it would connect to a right-of-way in northern New Hampshire that would run through

1680-582: The concern of the flooding of boreal forests during the construction of Hydro-Québec's dams in northern Quebec, disputes with the Innu First Nations, and the effects of tourism and the environment within the White Mountain National Forest . On January 25, 2018, Massachusetts Governor Baker selected this "Northern Pass Transmission" (NPT) project as the winner for a clean energy procurement RFP. However, days later on February 1, 2018,

1736-721: The day for others to use that capacity. Those orders had the effect of driving up wholesale prices for natural gas during peak winter heating periods and in turn increasing the costs of electricity generated by gas-fired power plants. The two utilities “engaged in behavior that would tend to have the largest impact on prices,” said N. Jonathan Peress, a senior director at the New York-based environmental group. “That implies they knew their efforts would have some sort of pricing impact that would provide them with some commercial benefit.” Representatives for both utilities denied they did anything improper. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey

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1792-510: The decommissioning of Units 1 and 2 and installation of CTG-1 and CTG-2, the plant's coal chute located on the outside of the boiler hall was removed and the original brick exhaust stacks were replaced with metallic stacks. The two simple-cycle , gas-fired combustion turbine generators (CTGs) having a total nominal capacity of 98 MW were installed and began operating June 5, 2002. Gas turbines are capable of starting up and responding much faster to changing electricity demand than steam units, thus

1848-596: The event of a complete grid failure or in the event that the utility substation through which it transmits power is isolated from the rest of the grid, known as "black start" capability. Owned by Cogentrix Energy, the West Springfield Generating Station is located at 15 Agawam Ave. in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Memorial Bridge (Massachusetts) The Hampden County Memorial Bridge (sometimes referred to as Springfield Memorial Bridge )

1904-622: The first new multi-state public utility holding company since the enactment of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 . In 1967, Holyoke Water Power Company (HWP) (formed in 1859) joined the NU System. Public Service Company of New Hampshire ( PSNH , formed in 1926), a private company at the time, declared bankruptcy in January 1988 due to problems obtaining a license for the completed Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant . and in 1992

1960-472: The generators and absorbed the HWP distribution customer base. Between 2000 and 2002 due to state laws, NU divested WMECO, CL&P, and PSNH's nuclear generating assets which consisted of their stakes in the Seabrook , Millstone , and Vermont Yankee stations. In November 2005, the company announced it would sell its unregulated competitive businesses, including generation and energy services. In November 2006

2016-425: The highest rates allowed by an electric distribution company regulator in the last five years. On January 30, 2018, Massachusetts Rep. Thomas Golden and Sen. Michael Barrett held an Oversight Hearing on the DPU's decision to approve Eversource's proposal to include a demand charge as part of a monthly minimum reliability contribution on net metering customers. Rep. Golden accused the utility of purposefully making

2072-427: The last few years. Referencing NSTAR's 2015 return of more than 13 percent, Attorney General Healey told the DPU that “[l]ast year, no state public utility commission in the country allowed a return that high.” Between 2010 and 2015, Eversource's shareholders of common stock received a cumulative total return (including quarterly dividends and the change in the market price per share) of 89 percent. On November 30, 2017,

2128-590: The major electric and gas provider in Greater Boston , with the resulting company retaining the Northeast Utilities name for the next several years. After government approvals, the deal closed in April 2012. In 2015 the company (now known as Eversource) agreed to sell all of its New Hampshire generation assets in the same manner it sold its assets in Massachusetts and Connecticut between 2000 and 2006. The sale of

2184-403: The merger was completed after government approval. In 2016, Eversource started joint ventures for wind farm developments with Ørsted . In 2023, Eversource announced it would sell off its equity in these projects ( Bay State Wind , South Fork Wind , Revolution Wind , and Sunrise Wind ) at an expected loss of $ 200 million. Eversource Energy has participated in a number of projects to improve

2240-567: The new Fairmont Switching Station was complete, marking substantial completion of the GSRP. Eversource has taken action to support the use of electric vehicles . Starting in 2018, the company began spending $ 45 million over five years to install over 400 electric vehicle charging stations in Massachusetts. The project is part of the company's Grid Modernization plan. The company has switched much of its power source from coal to natural gas , wind, hydroelectricity and solar power. As Northeast Utilities,

2296-544: The new charges "as confusing as possible." He said, "Let me tell you something gentlemen, I'm not happy how this was rolled out. I'm not happy with the lack of information my office has received." Golden, co-chairman of the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, helped write the 2016 law that permits utilities to levy a new minimum monthly charge, and he told Eversource executives they were making it "extremely, extremely difficult" for him to continue to support them in

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2352-607: The other south to North Bloomfield, Connecticut. The new 345 kV corridor added a new strong interface between Massachusetts and Connecticut. The project also involved rebuilding all of the 115 kV lines along the transmission corridor between South Agawam and Ludlow to increase their capacities, building a new 115 kV transmission substation in East Springfield (Cadwell), replacing the Fairmont 115 kV transmission substation in Chicopee with

2408-450: The plant had become a reserve facility only used at times of very high system load. In 2002, Con Edison converted the plant into a peaking facility by replacing the original boiler Units 1 and 2 with the current combustion turbines. The facility did not operate often and was primarily used to maintain grid reliability in the area. Due to the current New England market conditions, none of the plant's units fared well, revenue-wise, but in 2005 it

2464-475: The policy. In 2017, an environmental group accused Eversource and Avangrid of driving up electric, gas rates over several winters by buying up shipment capacity on a major pipeline that they ultimately did not use. The Environmental Defense Fund said both utilities routinely reserved big deliveries of natural gas on the Algonquin pipeline system for frigid days, but then sharply reduced those orders too late in

2520-415: The reliability of the power grid in southwest Connecticut. The first project was construction of the $ 350 million 345 kilovolt Bethel–Norwalk transmission line through the western part of the state, and was constructed entirely by the company when it was still known as Northeast Utilities. With United Illuminating , an upgrade to the 69-mile (112 km), 345 kilovolt Middletown-Norwalk transmission line

2576-572: The state. In 2015, Eversource fought the rooftop solar industry and supported anti-solar policies. In Massachusetts, they staffed the State House with lobbyists in order to end legislation promoting growth of the solar industry. During the 2015 legislative session in New Hampshire, Eversource opposed an increase to the state's solar net metering cap. New Hampshire's cap is lower than all neighboring states. Eversource disclosed on its website politically related organization expenditures of $ 110,000 to

2632-412: The steel arches self-supporting, and using them to support their own load plus the weight of the formwork and the wet concrete during construction, an initial compressive stress was developed in the steel prior to the setting of the concrete. This prestressing of the steel allowed a much higher proportion of its ultimate strength to be utilized, allowing, in turn, the use of smaller and lighter arch ribs and

2688-414: The substation. Unit 3, and since 2002 unit 2, supplied power to the 115 kV transmission switchyard at the substation via generator step-up transformers (GSU). The plant could be started with no off-site power available and with only the on-site emergency diesel generator providing electricity to plant systems. As a result, the West Springfield plant was capable of starting and supplying power to local loads in

2744-432: The units an additional 720 hours per year using distillate fuel oil. According to the plant management, Unit 3 could operate at about 10–20% of its capacity. Electricity was supplied to the grid at the adjacent Eversource Energy owned substation located directly behind the plant. All four units generated power at 13.8 kilovolts (kV). Units 1 and 10 supplied power directly via the 13.8 kV local distribution system fed out of

2800-1033: Was completed by Daniel O'Connell's Sons in 1996. [REDACTED]   This article incorporates text from MassDOT , a public domain work of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Eversource Energy Eversource Energy is a publicly traded , Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut , and Boston, Massachusetts , with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to approximately 4 million customers in Connecticut , Massachusetts , and New Hampshire . Following its 2012 merger with Boston-based NSTAR , Northeast Utilities had more than 4,270 circuit miles of electric transmission lines, 72,000 pole miles of distribution lines, and 6,459 miles of natural gas pipeline in New England . On February 2, 2015,

2856-568: Was determined by ISO New England that the station was needed for reliability purposes and CEEMI was awarded Reliability Must Run agreements in 2005 from ISO New England for the station's units. In RMR agreements, the electricity market agrees to subsidize the costs of operating units which are deemed necessary but are unable to make enough revenue to pay operational costs. Generally these are paid for by increasing electricity rates to customers. In 2008, Con Edison sold CEEMI to North American Energy Alliance , Inc. now known as Essential Power LLC, which

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2912-536: Was energized in 2009 at a cost of $ 900 million. In 2013, the Greater Springfield Reliability Project, a component of the ongoing New England East-West Solution, was energized at a cost of $ 795 million. The project addressed numerous reliability issues with the Springfield, MA area's 115 kV transmission system by constructing two new 345 kV lines to the Agawam substation; one line north to Ludlow and

2968-584: Was flawed and led to incorrect conclusions about the alleged withholding.” A class-action lawsuit filed on November 14, 2017, against Avangrid, Inc. and Eversource Energy claims the two companies caused electricity consumers to incur overcharges of $ 3.6 billion in a years-long scheme that impacted six states and affected 14.7 million people. The lawsuit states that 7.1 million retail electricity customers and an overall population of 14.7 million people have been affected by Eversource and Avangrid's “unique monopoly” spanning at least from 2013 to 2016. On June 10, 2019,

3024-623: Was merged into Northeast Utilities. In 1999, Con Edison and Northeast Utilities entered negotiations that would have created one of the largest utilities in the United States. However, Con Edison backed out of the merger in 2001 after Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal threatened lawsuits to block it. Legislation passed in the late 1990s deregulated the electricity market in New England and required regulated utilities to divest generating stations to competitive suppliers. In 1999

3080-556: Was replaced by a covered wooden Burr arch-truss bridge built by Isaac Damon of Northampton, Massachusetts . Partly rebuilt after a spring freshet in 1818, Damon's bridge survived into the 20th century, and was the structure which the present concrete arch bridge was built to replace. The location of the 1814 bridge is marked by the position of "Bridge Street" in both Springfield and West Springfield, at approximately 42°06′00″N 72°35′46″W  /  42.100131°N 72.596245°W  / 42.100131; -72.596245 . In 1915,

3136-450: Was the product of corporate mergers, and included the former Boston Edison Company, Cambridge Electric Light Company, Commonwealth Electric Company, Commonwealth Gas, and Cambridge Gas Company. All now currently operate under the Eversource name. Eversource remains Connecticut's largest electric utility, serving more than 1.2 million residential, municipal, commercial and industrial customers in approximately 149 cities and towns. Eversource

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