IMPORTANT EVENT
On Thursday, October 16, the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) will reconvene to address the Docket 516 decision regarding UI’s proposed transmission project in Fairfield and Bridgeport. At that meeting, the Council is expected either to defer its vote once again or to issue a final decision.
Details on how to attend the meeting remotely will be shared here as soon as they are published by the CSC—so please check back soon. We encourage everyone to attend if possible, as strong community participation demonstrates to the Council that this issue remains a matter of serious concern to our community.
Quick status of where our opposition stands:
Since 2023, SCNETI, the Town of Fairfield, the City of Bridgeport, and community partners have fought United Illuminating’s destructive transmission project under CT Siting Council Docket (CSC) #516. During the official proceedings, our coalition presented expert witnesses who discredited much of UI’s application and testimony—including their grossly inflated undergrounding estimates—exposing serious flaws in the plan. Despite this, the Council approved an alternate version of the project in 2024. We appealed, and in April 2025 the Superior Court ruled that the Council had violated due process and exceeded its authority by approving a project with no engineering plans, environmental reviews, or cost analyses, and without giving newly affected property owners an opportunity to object. The Superior Court judge ruled in our favor and the case was sent back for a new vote.
In June, the Council took a straw vote in which three new members sided with our position, acknowledging the devastating economic, environmental, cultural, and historic harm the project would inflict on Bridgeport and Fairfield. The result was a 4–2 vote to deny UI’s application. But less than three months later, with a new member seated, the Council took another straw vote—and suddenly, two members who had previously sided with us reversed their positions, voting to approve UI’s plan without any new evidence, testimony, or public explanation. The newly appointed member, with less than four weeks of tenure, somehow managed to review thousands of pages of complex docket material and also voted with the majority to approve the project.
Less than two weeks later, momentum shifted again. A large rally we organized in Hartford prompted Governor Lamont to call for a delay in the final decision to allow time for collaboration on an alternative that would protect our communities—stating that doing so would be in the best interest of the State of Connecticut. The Council ultimately postponed its final ruling until October 16. Since then, Fairfield and Bridgeport leaders stood together at a joint press conference and a second rally in Bridgeport, further strengthening the unity and resolve between the two communities as we now await either another delay or the Council’s final vote on this critical matter.
See Recent Updates page for more details