This week’s Regional Report brings us to Orleans County, where an upgrade for an electrical transmission line is getting a lot of attention, reflected in the news, letters to the editor in local papers, and even in ads take out in those papers by opponents and supporters of the project.
The Vermont Electric Cooperative wants to upgrade a line that would carry power from a proposed Lowell wind project to the grid.
As a co-operative, members must vote to approve or reject the project. Opponents are urging members to vote no-not because of the transmission line itself, but as a way to delay the controversial Lowell wind project. But the co-op says the proposed power line upgrade is needed regardless of the wind project.
Reporter Robin Smith has been following the issue closely for the Orleans County Record, an edition of the Caledonian Record and she speaks with VPR’s Mitch Wertlieb.