Connecticut’s Siting Council is set to vote Oct. 16 on a plan for taller monopoles in Fairfield County.
If the council approves the plan, UI will be able to install monopoles up to 18 stories tall in Fairfield, Bridgeport and Southport.
Local leaders have said the project will have detrimental impacts on their community.
“Businesses may not want to come to Fairfield for fear of what this infrastructure, this giant pole, will mean to their business,” First Selectwoman Christine Vitale said. “They'll lose parking, they'll lose their own private property, and it's just not right.”
The Siting Council, which is responsible for approving energy projects across the state, was expected to vote on the project in September. Governor Ned Lamont (D) asked them to delay it so the parties had more time to reach a better plan.
However, this Thursday’s docket is the same as September's.
The Council, through two non-binding straw poll votes, has previously signaled support and opposition for the project.
The utility upgrade project has been underway for nearly a decade. When the final project came up for consideration, community members expressed concern that they had not been properly consulted. They want UI to bury the power lines, which the company has said would cost $800 million, a cost that UI said would be passed on to ratepayers.
A full breakdown of the saga is available here.
The vote is at 1:00 p.m. It will be streamed on Zoom here.
