“Green” Power Line Dropped In CT

The U.S. Department of Energy is hosting a public meeting in Bridgeport tomorrow night to discuss a proposal to build an electric transmission line from Quebec to New York City. WNPR’s Nancy Cohen reports the company has just announced it’s scrapping its original plan to extend the line to Connecticut.

Transmission Developers Inc, the Toronto-based company proposing the project, is touting it as environmentally-friendly. TDI expects that at least 75% of the electricity will be generated from hydro-power and wind. And rather than build towering power lines on land, the company plans to submerge most of them underwater beneath sediments in Lake Champlain and the Hudson River. TDI President and CEO Donald Jessome says the transmission line to Connecticut won’t be built because the generators of electricity, who buy space on the line, are not interested in bringing their power to Connecticut.

“At this point in time they don’t want to get to the Connecticut market through our transmission project. And so we made the decision that we will concentrate all of our efforts on the New York marketplace.”

Jessome says opposition to previously proposed energy projects in Long Island Sound are not the reason the line won’t be built to Connecticut.

For WNPR, I’m Nancy Cohen.