United Illuminating claims it is being left in the dark by state regulators. On Monday the company requested members of the Connecticut Siting Council reconsider last month’s denial of the utility’s overhead transmission line upgrade project in Fairfield and Bridgeport. Monday’s filing was submitted at the very end of the timeframe UI had to take such action. According to Siting Council staff, such requests can be based on three factors: An error of fact or law; new evidence “which materially affects the merits of the case and which for good reasons was not presented;” and “other good cause.” UI first submitted its plan to the Siting Council in 2023. The company has maintained that installing the wires on monopoles routed along the southern side of the Metro-North Railroad train tracks is the best and least-costly-to-ratepayers option for upgrading the aged equipment. The Bridgeport/Fairfield section is the last 8 miles of a 25-mile-long project, the rest of which has been completed or is under construction. “We are stunned by the change in the Siting Council’s decision today with no explanation,” the utility had said, calling it “arbitrary and capricious.”
UI asks regulators to reconsider denial of Fairfield/Bridgeport monopole project
