State Hearing on Controversial PSE&G Project Held Monday

The Board of Public Utilities, a state regulatory agency, will hear a petition Monday night by Ridgewood challenging the controversial PSE&G project to install 90 65-foot poles carrying 69-kilovolt lines.

Residents along Hope Street and Spring Avenue have opposed the project since the beginning of construction in July.

The utility contends it's on solid legal footing to upgrade existing infrastructure without municipal approval, while village officials and I-CARE, a group opposing the project, have argued that local bodies should have had a voice in the project before installation of the poles began.

Company representatives have previously held public forums in Ridgewood and Glen Rock, where the poles were installed this spring without opposition, to assure residents of the safety of the poles. But objectors have remained skeptical of the arguments.

PSE&G has maintained a moratorium on the Ridgewood project pending the hearing before the board.

The hearing will take place at 6 p.m. in the Freeholders’ Public Meeting Room at the Bergen County Administrative Office in Hackensack.