🔒Siting Council to consider UI petition over monopole transmission line project denial

The Connecticut Siting Council has scheduled a special meeting Thursday to address United Illuminating’s petition challenging the agency’s decision to deny the utility’s controversial Fairfield-to-Congress transmission line project. The meeting, set for 2 p.m. via Zoom, follows UI’s petition for reconsideration filed Nov. 3, which argues the council violated state law by failing to provide reasons for its Oct. 16 denial of the $300 million project. UI attorney Bruce McDermott, of Harris Beach Murtha, wrote in the petition that the council’s Oct. 16 decision violated state statutes requiring the agency to file “an opinion stating in full its reasons for the decision” and include “findings of fact and conclusions of law” when denying an application. “Without any explanation as to why the project was denied, UI is left with no guidance as to what, if any, issues the council had with the proposed solution,” McDermott wrote in a Nov. 18 letter requesting the special meeting. The project would relocate and rebuild UI’s existing 115-kilovolt electric transmission lines from railroad catenary structures to new steel monopoles along about 7.3 miles of the Metro-North Railroad corridor between Fairfield and Bridgeport. UI has argued the upgrade is needed to maintain grid reliability, noting the council’s own remand decision acknowledged “there is a public need for the Fairfield to Congress” project. The proposal has faced strong opposition from Bridgeport and Fairfield officials and residents, who have raised concerns about visual and community impacts. The route would pass through parts of Bridgeport’s South End near several churches, the historic Freeman Houses and other landmarks. At Thursday’s meeting, the council could vote to reopen the docket and immediately take up the reconsideration request, or it could reopen the docket without acting immediately — a move that would give the council an additional 90 days to review the petition. “Because of the Siting Council’s failure to explain their decision, UI has no clear path forward for rebuilding aged transmission infrastructure in Fairfield and Bridgeport, which the Siting Council itself acknowledges creates a clear reliability and safety threat to the state and region,” said Sarah Wall Fliotsos, a spokesperson for UI. The project represents the final phase of a transmission-upgrade initiative UI began in 2017. The first three phases, running from New Haven to Stratford, are already complete. The council’s previous approval of an alternative north-side route was overturned in April by New Britain Superior Court Judge Matthew Budzik, who ruled the council exceeded its authority by deviating from UI’s original proposal.