Sec. 16-244j. Electric transmission lines from Bethel to Norwalk. Moratorium. Working group and comprehensive assessment. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 16-244j. Electric transmission lines from Bethel to Norwalk. Moratorium. Working group and comprehensive assessment. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes, no state agency, including, but not limited to, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Connecticut Siting Council, shall render a final decision for any applications relating to electric transmission lines from Bethel to Norwalk including, but not limited to, applications that are pending or received on and after June 3, 2002, until February 1, 2003. During such interim period, the Institute for Sustainable Energy shall chair and convene a working group comprised of: (1) Two representatives chosen by the chief elected officials of Bethel, Redding, Weston, Wilton and Norwalk, one of whom shall have environmental expertise and one of whom shall have energy expertise; (2) one representative of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment; (3) two representatives of the applicant company; and (4) one representative of the New England Independent System Operator, Inc. and develop a comprehensive assessment and report on: (A) The economic considerations and environmental preferences and appropriateness of installing such transmission lines underground or overhead; (B) the feasibility of meeting all or part of the electric power needs of the region through distributive generation; and (C) the electric reliability, operational and safety concerns of the region's transmission system and the technical and economic feasibility of addressing those concerns with currently available electric transmission system equipment. The Institute for Sustainable Energy shall publish its report on or before January 1, 2003, and shall also include recommendations for any legislative changes deemed necessary as a result of such assessment. Any decision or opinion rendered on any application for an electric transmission line from Bethel to Norwalk by either the Department of Environmental Protection or the Connecticut Siting Council after the publication of such comprehensive assessment and report, shall be evaluated to determine such application's consistency with such assessment. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent routine maintenance and repair of such electric transmission lines.

      (b) Any applicant that elects to proceed with its application for an electric transmission line from Bethel to Norwalk before any state agency, including, but not limited to, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Connecticut Siting Council, during the interim period described in subsection (a) of this section, shall accrue no legal rights or financial entitlements by proceeding with its application.

      (P.A. 02-95, S. 2.)

      History: P.A. 02-95 effective June 3, 2002.