ALBANY — The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today announced it will hold public statement hearings in the Town of Hounsfield, Jefferson County and the City of Oswego, Oswego County, to receive comments on Galloo Island Wind, LLC’s (Galloo) proposal to build a transmission line.

The proposed 33-mile transmission line would consist of a substation on Galloo Island, in the Town of Hounsfield, Jefferson County, and a 138-kV alternating current underground/underwater electric transmission cable to a proposed new substation on Mitchell Street in the City of Oswego, Oswego County. The cable and related electric facilities would connect the proposed Galloo Island Wind project to the New York State electric grid.

The Galloo Island Wind project is proposed to include 30 wind turbines and related facilities on Galloo Island and is currently subject to review in a separate proceeding before the Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment pursuant to Article 10 of the Public Service Law (Case 15-F-0327). The applications for the transmission line and the wind facility may be viewed at www.dps.ny.gov by searching the respective case numbers or at public libraries in Sackets Harbor, Henderson and Oswego.

Opportunity for public comment will be held, as follows:

During the scheduled informational forums, maps of the proposed route will be on display, New York State Department of Public Service Staff representatives will give a short presentation on the review process in this case, and Galloo’s representatives will be available to answer questions about its proposal. The public is welcome to stop in at any time during the informal informational forums to review information and ask questions.

Each informational forum will be followed by a public statement hearing where those wishing to comment on Galloo’s request will have an opportunity to make a statement on the record. It is not necessary to make an appointment in advance or to present written material to speak at the hearing. Persons will be called to speak after completing a request card. Each public statement hearing will be held open for a minimum of one hour and will be kept open until everyone wishing to speak has been heard or other reasonable arrangements have been made to include their comments in the record. A verbatim transcript of each hearing will be made for inclusion in the record of this proceeding.

Persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations should call the Department of Public Service’s Human Resources Management Office at (518) 474-2520 as soon as possible. TDD users may request a sign language interpreter by placing a call through the New York Relay Service at 711. Individuals with difficulty understanding or reading English are encouraged to call the Commission at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.

Other Ways to Comment:

For those who cannot attend or prefer not to speak at a public statement hearing, there are several other ways to comment about this case to the Commission. Comments should refer to “Case 18-T-0015 – Galloo Island Transmission Project.” Although comments submitted via these alternate means will be accepted throughout the pendency of this proceeding, they are requested by November 16, 2018.

Internet or Mail: Go to www.dps.ny.gov, click on “Search,” search using case number “Case 18-T-0015” and then click the “Post Comments” button at the top of the page; or send comments to the Secretary for the Commission at secretary@dps.ny.gov. Alternatively, comments may be mailed or delivered to Hon. Kathleen H. Burgess, Secretary, Public Service Commission, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350.

Toll-Free Opinion Line: You may call the Commission’s Opinion Line at 1-800-335-2120. This number is set up to take comments about pending cases from in-state callers, 24 hours a day. These comments are not transcribed verbatim, but a summary is provided to the Commission.

Written comments received by the Department will become part of the record considered by the Commission. Written comments may be viewed online (go to www.dps.ny.gov, click on “Search,” search using the case number and then click on the “Public Comments” tab). Many libraries offer free Internet access.