Uploaded on 2017-05-29 by Boston (by Nicholas Swedberg)

Territorial electrical infrastructure is a dominant feature in the context of urban energy supply in northern New England (USA). Major cities like Boston, and the more populous states of southern New England, Connecticut and Rhode Island; have fairly high population densities and sizeable energy demands. Boston, with its numerous technological and medical facilities, as wells as a sizeable residential community, has an especially high energy demand. As cities and communities in the region look to exploit renewable energy sources, the issues of electricity infrastructure and the transportation of electricity from its source of production to the points of consumption becomes a major design and policy concern. A large producer of renewable energy in the region is the Canadian province of Québec. The Hydro-Québec company uses the Saint Lawrence River and the other waterways of the Québec province to produce electricity. In order for the electricity produced in Québec to reach the greater Boston area and points in southern New England, the electricity has to travel over 300 miles (500 km or more). The attached image shows a row of high voltage power lines used to transport electricity produced in southern Québec to points in urban New England. The photographed power lines travel through rural New Hampshire, not far from protected state forests and waterways. These transmission lines are the physical manifestation of our dependency on electricity as a resource and the territorial infrastructure we must develop in order to provide energy to our cities. As mentioned in the lectures, the development of territorial infrastructure, while critical for the development of future cities, must navigate critical concerns at the territorial scale. Above ground transmission lines, like the ones photographed, are efficient and relatively inexpensive. However, they mar physical landscapes and can reduce adjacent property values. These negative points are central issues affecting the development of territorial infrastructure in New England, as much of northern New England is rural and possesses numerous forest and protected environmental areas. However, the burial of power lines, while aesthetically and environmentally more acceptable, is more expensive. These dichotomies of territorial infrastructure that we discussed in the course are currently playing out in New England.