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Bill Requires PSC to Consider Landowner Rights When Utilities Locate Transmission Lines

Krenzer Farms

A new measure would require the Public Service Commission to consider the rights of landowners when utilities want to install transmission lines on private property.

The bipartisan legislation passed in both houses of the state legislature and now awaits Governor Cuomo's signature.

Assemblyman Harry Bronson of Rochester co-sponsored the bill.  He said it requires the PSC to give landowners ample notice when a utility request permission to run gas or electric lines through their property.

"Now they can follow the entire process from beginning to end, and anytime there's an opportunity - whether it's a public hearing; whether it's written comments - they're able to lend their voice and their prospective to the process before the approval occur," Bronson said.

The bill would also require the PSC to consider the impact the installation would have on an agricultural business.

The measure was inspired by the Krenzer family, who waged a nearly three year battle to keep RG and E from installing a substation and power lines on the family farm in Chili.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.