For months, Public Service of New Hampshire has dismissed the Northern Pass alternatives suggested by residents who did not want to see big transmission towers cut through their communities. And then a competitor came forward with a plan to build its own transmission lines - underground.

Almost immediately, PSNH backtracked. The company maintains that burying traditional power lines would be too expensive. But on Friday it hinted that maybe - just maybe - it could bury the type of line that National Grid has proposed for its Northeast Energy Link project.

National Grid and Bangor Hydro Electric would bury transmission lines to bring wind-generated power from Maine through New Hampshire into Massachusetts. With Northern Pass, Northeast Utilities (PSNH's parent company) and Hydro Quebec would bring hydropower from Quebec through New Hampshire and into Massachusetts.

Northern Pass is controversial because its towers would be 85 to 135 feet high and would cut through 40 miles of forests and communities where no lines exist.

Some other arguments are used by opponents. People say that the power won't go to New Hampshire or that hydro isn't really that "green." Those aren't serious arguments. New Hampshire buys power from what is available in the market, and Northern Pass would contribute to that. And hydro is a lot more reliable and no less "green" than wind. The real beef is with the towers.

The original Northern Pass plan would be the least costly to build and operate, and that is no small concern. But Northeast Utilities and Hydro Quebec will do better in the long run for both themselves and New Hampshire by opting instead for either buried lines in more sensitive areas or an alternative route through Vermont.