President of PSEG Agrees to Bury Offending Power Lines Only if Residents Shoulder Costs

Concerned residents and homeowners continue to advocate for the burial of high-voltage power lines that are currently being installed at lightning speed throughout the eastern half of East Hampton Village and as far east as Old Stone Highway in Springs.

PSEG LI President and CEO David Daly maintains the more than six miles of high-voltage transmission lines are necessary to safely increase voltage transmission and withstand high winds--such as those that battered the East End during Hurricane Sandy. 

Residents contend the energy transformers are aesthetically and environmentally detrimental to property values and quality of life in the communities they impact. 

Elected officials, Representative Tim Bishop, Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell, State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and East Hampton Village Mayor Paul Rickenback all expressed hope a cost-sharing scenario such as was cobbled together to foot the cost of burying power lines along Scuttlehole Road in the Town of Southampton might provide a template for a solution to the enormous cost (estimated at up to $30 Million) to taxpayers.

For a full accounting of the various cost-sharing plans, concerns and compromises set out by various elected officials and residents see Joanne Pilgrim's in-depth report in this week's edition of The East Hampton Star http://easthamptonstar.com/News/2014320/PSEG-Look-Again