Northern Pass divides crowd

"As she stood behind the podium on the wooden stage in Franklin City Hall during last night's public hearing on the Northern Pass hydroelectricity project, Denise Thibeault gave a nervous smile, then confessed: "I feel like a Yankee in Fenway Park."

The west Franklin resident came to the Department of Energy's meeting to oppose the plan, which she said would slice through two of her properties. And while the standing-room-only crowd that filled the old opera house didn't express even a fraction of the vitriol Red Sox fans unleash at the sight of pinstripes, she was addressing an audience divided.

Unlike the first meeting the department held in Pembroke on Monday night, where strong opposition dominated the discourse, the hearing in Franklin seemed to have at least as many supporters as detractors. Many who spoke in favor of the project were from Franklin, where a $250 million converter station is planned. Proponents said that the city is struggling economically and could use the boost to the tax base."

Read the rest of the article at the Concord Monitor.