CITYWATCH India Point power lines dispute remains stalemated BY BRIAN C. JONES

The dispute about whether to bury a mile-long string of electrical power lines across the Providence and East Providence waterfronts will apparently stretch on for months, despite earlier indications of a settlement.

In January, the Narragansett Electric Company proposed a settlement in which it would agree to bury the high-tension lines, which cross the Providence and Seekonk rivers, as well as Providence’s India Point Park. But the Public Utilities Commission, after a series of hearings, said it was opposed to burying the lines because doing so would cost considerably more than keeping them aboveground. The settlement was predicated on PUC backing.

Thus, the debate now moves to a state panel known as the Energy Facility Siting Board, which has scheduled an April 21 hearing at PUC headquarters, 89 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The three-member siting board — not the PUC — has final say in the matter, although the board’s decision can be appealed to state courts.

If anything, the debate over burying the lines has become more complex and contentious since it surfaced when Narragansett last year outlined plans to relocate them (see "I-195 relocation poses big question," News, November 28, 2003). Slung from a series of tall steel towers, the transmission cables have to be moved slightly from their current path to make room for $450 million relocation of a section of Interstate 195, where it joins Interstate 95 in downtown Providence.

Proponents of burying the lines say the highway project presents a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get rid of industrial-style wires and towers along a waterfront that is increasingly important to the renewal of Providence and East Providence. Narragansett Electric, however, has proposed keeping the lines above ground, because it says that it’s cheaper and that aboveground lines can by repaired much more quickly than underground wires.

Among recent developments:

• Narragansetts is studying a new route for aboveground wires, which would keep them next to I-195, rather than crossing a large swath of India Point Park. One of the advantages, according to the company, is a more favorable landing point on the East Providence side, where that city is planning a multi-million dollar upgrade of waterfront land.

• Possible temporary relocation of the transmission lines, which would allow them to be placed out of the way while the highway is rebuilt, without having to hold up the road project while the above-below ground dispute grinds on. The state Department of Transportation earlier had worried about a delay if the debate lasted longer than the end of January. But a spokeswoman says the DOT is now satisfied that the lines can be shifted at least temporarily by its deadline — November 2005.

• The cost estimates have changed slightly. Narragansett Electric had said that the aboveground option would run about $2 million, up from $1.7 million. The electric company’s lowest-cost estimate of burying the lines is $9.4 million, compared to an earlier $8.2 million figure.

• The General Assembly could get into the dispute. On February 5, the House passed a resolution urging the PUC and Narragansett to "favorably consider those proposals containing provision for burial" of the transmission lines. In January, the Providence City Council passed a resolution endorsing burial, suggesting it might put a high price tag on easements over city property if the lines remain aboveground.