Stay Informed

Your Voice Matters
Regulatory Approval Process Information
Contacting Your Elected Officials
What Others Are Saying

Your Voice Matters

How can you participate in the regulatory approval process to protect your interests and make your voice heard?

You can contact the Connecticut Siting Council to learn how to become a Party or an Intervener once Northeast Utilities has filed an application. The Council allots public hearing time for statements by elected officials and members of the public, and the Council invites written comments until the record is closed. See the Council's Web site for schedules, timelines and filings or call (860) 827-2935.

The siting of transmission projects involves several opportunities for you to voice any concerns. Below are the steps required to insure that happens. In addition, you are welcome to contact us at any time or contact your elected officials.

Regulatory Approval Process Information

Before an Application is made to the Connecticut Siting Council for an Electric Transmission Line Facility Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need:

• The applicant company must consult with municipalities along the route and include efforts to meet with the top elected official in those municipalities.
• In such municipal consultations, an applicant must provide those officials with technical reports.
• Municipalities have 60 days to issue recommendations on the proposal to the applicant.
• Within 15 days of filing an application with the Council, applicants must provide the Council with information on their municipal consultations, including the municipality's recommendations.

Application Notice Requirements:

• Applicants must provide copies of an application to the top municipal official in affected towns, various town and state agencies, a regional planning agency, members of the Legislature in whose districts a facility is proposed, the state attorney general and any additional federal agencies with jurisdiction.
• Notice of an application must be published at least twice prior to a filing in a newspaper having general circulation in the municipalities.
• A notice must be provided with bills to electric company customers in the municipalities for one or more months prior to filing an application.

After an Application is Made:

• The Council's staff will examine the application for completeness and set a schedule.
• The Council will gather additional record information via interrogatory questions, a public hearing and required consultations with various other state agencies.
• Individuals and groups (including municipalities), pursuant to CGS section 16-50n, may participate as parties or interveners, or make limited appearances at the hearings.
• The Council has 12 months to make a decision on the application for a certificate, and can impose conditions in any approval decision.

If the Council Grants a Certificate:

• The applicant completes its line design.
• The applicant prepares, and submits to the Council for approval, a "Development and Management Plan" for mitigating construction process impacts.
• The applicant secures all necessary rights and permits for construction.
• Subject to satisfying Council-imposed conditions, the applicant may construct the line.

For additional details:

See General Statutes of Connecticut, sections 16-50g et. seq., and the Connecticut Siting Council Application Guide for an Electric and Fuel Transmission Line facility.

Contacting Your Elected Officials

What Others Are Saying

Search the archives of the sources listed below:

The Hartford Courant
Connecticut Post
The Hour (Norwalk)
Greenwich Time
The New Haven Register
Danbury News-Times
The Advocate (Stamford)
The Waterbury Republican-American

CT Business Magazine

Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA)

The Business Council of Southwestern Connecticut

ISO-New England - The Independent Service Operator is the not-for-profit corporation responsible for the day to day operation of New England's bulk electricity generation and transmission systems.

The United Illuminating Company (UI)

The Edison Electric Institute