UI Refutes Claims Of Potential Negative Impact Of Monopole Project

FAIRFIELD, CT — Utility company United Illuminating says it is "committed to open, transparent dialogue throughout" the process seeking approvals of its Transmission Line Rebuild Project, and it will negotiate in good faith with impacted property owners in Fairfield and Bridgeport.

UI issued a statement Tuesday refuting what it considers "untrue and incendiary" claims that businesses could be in jeopardy along the proposed route of the high-powered transmission line project due to eminent domain.

"Throughout the course of the Fairfield to Congress Transmission Line Rebuild Project, UI’s expectation and objective is to avoid the use of an eminent domain proceeding," Sarah Wall Fliotsos, UI spokesperson, wrote in an email to Patch. "Once the Connecticut Siting Council provides approval to UI’s proposed project or one of the alternatives under Docket 516, UI would begin good-faith negotiations with the affected property-owners to outline the easement areas needed to safely perform the project construction. Then, alongside the property-owners, UI would work collaboratively through the development of an easement that allow the co-habitation of UI’s transmission facilities and the existing use of permanent fixtures, such as buildings, sheds and parking lots."

Fairfield business owner Stephen Boccarossa told News 12 Connecticut that he found the UI proposal "disturbing," and that it could potentially have a negative impact on his local insurance business. His company is located at 1828 Post Road in Fairfield, along the corridor where UI is proposing to install 60 metal utility monopoles, many rising more than 100 feet in the air, that would carry the upgraded transmission line.

Hundreds of residents recently turned out for a protest against the project, and want UI to bury the power lines instead of installing them overhead.

The utility company has said that the project is needed in order to harden the system in case of a catastrophic event, and make it more resilient to climate change, among other improvements. Burying the lines, the company estimates, could cost more than three-times the amount of installing the monopoles.

On Thursday, the Siting Council will hold an evidentiary hearing about the project; Boccarossa and others have filed to be interveners in the process.

"UI remains committed to open, transparent dialogue throughout this process as we move forward with essential improvements to the reliability and resiliency of the statewide transmission grid," Fliotsos said.