Huge Price Tag For Underground Transmission Line Project In Fairfield & Bridgeport: UI

FAIRFIELD, CT — A recent third-party cost estimate commissioned by United Illuminating has found that placing a key section of electric transmission lines underground between Bridgeport and Fairfield would cost nearly three times as much as an overhead alternative — an added burden that would fall solely on Connecticut electricity customers.

The analysis, conducted by Dashiell Corporation and HBK Engineering, determined that constructing an underground line from UI’s Congress Street Substation to Sasco Creek would cost approximately $838 million. In contrast, the monopole transmission line project along the same route is estimated at $306 million. UI is a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc.

The figures were released as part of UI’s ongoing efforts to rebuild aging transmission infrastructure along the Metro-North Railroad corridor, in what is known as the Fairfield to Congress project. The company says the estimates are consistent with its earlier 2023 filing with the Connecticut Siting Council, which placed the underground option at just over $1 billion.

In a previous ruling on the project, the CSC found that undergrounding the transmission line would "result in an unreasonable economic burden on the ratepayers of the state." UI officials say the new cost estimate reaffirms that conclusion.

"At UI, our responsibility — to our 345,000 customers and all our stakeholders across Connecticut — is to design and implement the least-cost solution that best achieves our primary obligation: providing safe, reliable, and resilient electricity to our customers," said Frank Reynolds, President and CEO of UI, in a statement. "In both transmission and distribution projects, there are certainly times when we recommend an underground solution, but given the cost increases our customers bear for underground projects, we must offer substantial proof to regulators that an overhead solution is either not viable or would be more costly. In the case of Fairfield to Congress, we know there has been strong community advocacy for an underground design plan, but because we can achieve our reliability and resiliency objectives with a more affordable overhead route, we have always stood by our preferred alternative for the benefit of the customers we serve."

UI officials emphasized that despite public perceptions, the company has no financial incentive to recommend a lower-cost option. Because UI is a regulated utility, its earnings are not tied to project expense levels in the same way as competitive firms. Utility regulators require that utilities propose the most cost-effective solutions that meet system requirements.

Jim Cole, Vice President of Projects at Avangrid, said approving the more expensive underground design would force Connecticut customers to absorb an additional $500 million in localized costs. By contrast, the $300 million cost of the overhead project could be distributed among the 14 million customers across New England through the region’s Independent System Operator, ISO-New England.

Read More:

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• UI Responds To Mounting Opposition In Fairfield To Monopole Proposal

"With Connecticut’s high electricity rates continually in the news, it is frankly surprising to see so many elected officials and their constituents continue to push for a project design that would add half a billion dollars to Connecticut electric rates," Cole said. "At UI, we recognize the immense responsibility we have to provide best-in-class reliability and resiliency at the least possible cost to our customers, which is why we continue to work hard to develop prudent project designs for transmission line rebuilds across our service area."

The Fairfield to Congress line is part of a broader initiative by UI to replace aging infrastructure along the railroad corridor. Since identifying the need for upgrades in 2018, UI has completed three phases of a five-phase plan and is currently constructing a fourth segment between New Haven and Milford. The fifth and final phase—the Fairfield to Congress line—was sent back to the CSC by a Superior Court ruling for further evaluation.

UI said that in addition to deteriorating infrastructure, the current setup interferes with the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s plans to improve the Metro-North system. The utility intends to move the transmission lines off of the railroad’s support structures and rebuild them using steel monopoles alongside the corridor.

Company officials warned of the potential risks of delay, pointing to a recent incident in which electrical failures disrupted Metro-North train service in Connecticut for more than 12 hours.

"The transmission system is only as strong as its weakest link," Cole said. "These aging assets no longer meet minimum design standards, and less than a week after failing Metro-North electrical infrastructure halted and delayed trains on Connecticut’s railroad for more than 12 hours, our customers know more than ever the cascading effects that failures in this system can have. Thus, failing to finish what we started would subject our entire transmission grid to safety and reliability impacts, including restricted growth in the region, cascading blackouts, and even the potential for broad-scale system failure. As this region’s only provider of electricity — a resource that is increasingly critical to both economic development and life safety — we simply cannot allow that to happen. That’s why we’re eager to work with regulators, elected officials, and all our stakeholders to move this project forward."

The Connecticut Siting Council will now weigh the new cost data as it reconsiders design options for the final phase of the project.

More information about the Fairfield to Congress project and UI’s transmission upgrades is available at https://www.uirailroadtlineupgrades.com.