Need for more permits may slow power line project

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The Public Service Board is expected to rule in January on a major new power line planned for northwestern Vermont, but the company proposing it could face big new hurdles.

ADVERTISEMENT

By one estimate, the 64-mile set of power lines between West Rutland and South Burlington will cross 287 wetlands. Altering a wetland requires permits both from the state Agency of Natural Resources and from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Vermont Electric Power Co. still hopes to start construction this winter. Winter construction is usually required in wetlands, because they are frozen and damage to them is minimized.

But VELCO's spokesman confirmed that the company has yet to apply for permits from either the Army Corps or the state environmental agency.

"I think we're in the process of moving ahead with the necessary permits," VELCO's David Mace said. "I don't know if we've evaluated or not whether we're going to be able to hold to our initial construction schedule."

Project opponents met Nov. 10 with an official in the Army Corps' Vermont office, and were told typical turnaround time for a wetland permit there is about six months.

Michael Adams, the Army Corps project manager who attended that meeting, confirmed in an interview that he had not received any permit application from VELCO.

He said he could not judge how many permits the VELCO project might require because, "I have no idea what the potential impacts are going to be."

Approving even dozens of such permits, let alone one for each of the 287 wetlands the board was told would be affected could take some time; Adams said his office has two people who work on such permit reviews.

Efforts to reach two Agency of Natural Resources officials involved in wetland permit reviews there on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Critics of the VELCO project, including James Dumont, the lawyer for the town of New Haven, have argued that the board should not rush to make its decision by January given the likely delays while the other permits are awaited.

"They can't turn a spade of dirt ... until they get their federal permits," Dumont said in an interview. "They say they need to start construction soon. They can't, so let's do this right."

Dumont said one good use of extra time would be for the board to make a closer examination of the reliability standards VELCO says it is trying to meet with the project.

VELCO, which operates Vermont's bulk electric transmission system, has argued that northwestern Vermont's electric grid is becoming unreliable due to increasing demand, especially in Chittenden County, and that the new power lines would shore it up.

In a months-long procedural squabble among lawyers, the board first said it would not look at testimony from an expert witness indicating VELCO might be overstating its case on reliability and that the project might not be needed. Last week, it said it wanted to stick with its schedule and issue a ruling in January.

One Wednesday, though, the board said it would consider the testimony of the witness on reliability issues. It said it believed it could do so without delaying the case further.