PSE&G Again Halts Work on Neighborhood-Hated Power Project

Following a public forum on Wednesday, PSE&G has agreed to again halt its controversial project to run 65-foot-tall utility poles with high voltage lines through Ridgewood, according to Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn.

The utility signaled at the meeting that having already held an informational forum and providing its legal position to the village that it would resume work starting on Friday. 

On Thursday, the utility agreed to halt the work until a future date, Aronsohn said Thursday afternoon. When the new moratorium will end remains unknown.

Village officials may be appealing PSE&G's project, which began a month ago, to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) for a hearing.

Ridgewood officials hope the public and village department experts can weigh in through sworn testimony.

"We're exploring all of our options," Aronsohn said. "That's the context in which we're having these discussions with them."

At the forum on Thursday, residents who formed the grassroots group I-CARE again expressed their fury. The group has received 250 signatures protesting the project, which PSE&G maintains is necessary to increase electrical capacity from its substations in Paramus and Fair Lawn, as well as others in the county. 

"We're not challenging public benefit of project but how PSE&G has circumvented legal process," said Nicole Huff, a spokeswoman for I-CARE.

I-CARE also fears the loss of property values, aesthetic impacts, and safety concerns through electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and higher voltage lines.

Village officials on Wednesday appeared ready to engage in a legal battle against the state's largest utility.

"It seems to me, and I don't say this lightly, that there was an effort to circumvent the process here," Aronsohn told PSE&G representatives.

"It's so wrong to tell us after the fact what you did, and have your representative say, 'And that’s the way it’s going to be, and there’s no chance we can change that,'" added Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli.

Dave Hollenbeck, the utility's regional public affairs manager, agreed there were missteps taken (like not putting notice on the web) but disputed there was any attempt to take shortcuts.

The village was informed of the project – which features 78 poles on Maple, Spring, Hope and E. Ridgewood – on March 5 and while he did not specifically address Ridgewood plans weeks later at a forum on Super Storm Sandy, the utility has been more than forthcoming to assuage residential concerns, Hollenbeck argued.

The utility must increase electrical capacity while creating redundancies in its system to mitigate outages, PSE&G contends.

"We have to prepare for that in the future to supply your residents, your businesses with that type of service," Hollenbeck said. "That's why we're upgrading and investing since 2010 about $1.5 billion."

An electrical engineer consulting PSE&G said higher voltage lines don't impact EMF levels, though he also said residents should "consult their doctors" about any potential health effects. Ridgewood officials said the jury is still out on the science.

Meanwhile, PSE&G's attorneys claim it has the law on its side.

Kenneth Sheehan testified that a "century of case law" and the village's "prior consent" to allow PSE&G to construct older poles gives them the right to install the newer poles.

"You run the risk of what could be a frivolous lawsuit," Sheehan remarked. "You would be expending time, money and effort in something that may not be resulting in much."

Pucciarelli, himself an attorney, disputed Sheehan's interpretation. He said that state statute 48-7:1 requires the utility to receive approval from the municipality prior to construction.

"Preemption is rarely exercised in a way that ignores the local community," he said, noting that the poles for this project are vastly different from the 40-foot-poles and 26KV lines of today. "You do not have our prior consent to put those poles on the streets on which you put them."

PSE&G's project manager testified that the utility explored numerous alternate routes before settling on the Hope Street and Spring Avenue corridor.

"Constructability" issues prevented the utility from building the line through the large right-of-way in town, Isabel Goncales-Rooney said. Similarly, they could not build underground in other areas due to existing utility lines, she remarked, adding that the route selected was the least obtrusive.

To roaring applauds, Village Manager Ken Gabbert said that PSE&G should have built underground. 

But that's not our style, Goncales-Rooney retorted. The utility's tariff, she said, stipulates that it should build overhead whenever possible.

Patch will provide updates on this issue as they happen.