Underground electrical wires in public rights-of-way are preferable to overhead cables like Northeast Utilities' proposed Bethel-to-Norwalk line, a task force states in a report issued yesterday.  The so-called Working Group, which the state Legislature created last year when it established a moratorium on Bethel-to-Norwalk lines until Feb. 1, also recommended studying alternatives to high-voltage lines as part of a "balanced approach" to meeting the area's growing energy needs.

Among the Working Group's seven members were two representatives tapped by area towns and two Northeast Utilities officials.

NU has proposed creating a 22-mile, 345-kilovolt cable from Bethel to Norwalk that would be carried on 130-foot-tall towers.  The company has also presented two other options: burying the 345-kV cable below ground, or moving an existing 115-kV line between Bethel and Norwalk below ground to make room for an overland 345-kV cable on the same right-of-way.

Additionally, NU is preparing alternative proposals involving the burial of lines in parts of Bethel and Wilton in response to a request from the state Siting Council, which approves the location of energy projects.  Citing environmental and quality-of-life concerns, leaders from towns that would be affected by NU's project have proposed the company build two 115-kV lines below streets and roads instead of the 345-kV overland cable.

The top elected officials from Norwalk, Bethel, Redding, Weston and Wilton held a news conference at Norwalk City Hall yesterday to praise the Working Group's preference for subterranean lines and recommendation that alternatives to high-voltage lines be studied.  "Underground transmission lines developed within public right-of-ways would
likely have the least impacts to natural and cultural resources," the report states.  State Rep. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said the Working Group's report will go before the Legislature's Energy and Technology Committee for consideration.  Duff, who is vice chairman of the committee, said he hopes to hold public hearings on the report.

Subterranean wires are more expensive to install but would not present a significant cost increase to consumers, Wilton First Selectman Paul Hannah Jr. said during yesterday's news conference in Norwalk.  Weston First Selectman Woody Bliss said underground electrical wires are more common in much of the developed world outside the United States.  "You don't see wires when you visit European cities and towns," he said.

Reading a statement on behalf of the five officials who held the news conference, Redding First Selectman Natalie Ketcham hailed the Working Group's encouragement of "alternatives to transmission infrastructure projects."

Though the report calls southwestern Connecticut's energy infrastructure "not adequate," the Working Group recommends alternatives such as distributed generation -- where smaller power generators are placed at local sites -- be considered as part of the solution.  State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who attended the Norwalk news conference, said he found Working Group criticism of the state's energy-project approval process significant.  "We need reform before we build," Blumenthal said.

The Working Group and a panel known as the Task Force, which is studying cross-Long Island Sound utility projects under the same legislation that created the Working Group, believe the state needs a board to coordinate energy planning, according to the report.  The Task Force and Working Group also suggest the state create a plan
assessing Connecticut's energy resources and needs, establishing a state energy policy and formulating long-term planning strategies.

"There is no adequate comprehensive, policy-driven energy-planning process emphasizing long-term cost analysis and environmental management in Connecticut," the report states.  Frank Poirot, NU spokesman, said the report is the result of a "very collaborative process" and contains recommendations the company finds "workable."

"We certainly support the recommendation to create a Connecticut energy coordinating authority," he said. "This is certainly a step in the right direction."  While NU favors building a 345-kilovolt overland cable from Bethel to Norwalk, Poirot said the company can live with any of its five options for the project.  He said he appreciates local leaders' suggestion NU place two 115-kilovolt lines underground, but said the proposal does not meet federal reliability standards.

NU already has 392 miles of 345-kilovolt overland cables in Connecticut and wants to connect this area to that loop, Poirot said.  The Bethel-to-Norwalk line would be the first phase of a three-part project that NU also hopes will include a line from Norwalk to Middletown and a cable from Norwalk to Long Island, N.Y.

ISO New England, the organization that operates the region's electrical power grid, last month recommended construction of a 7-mile, 345-kilovolt line from Norwalk to Stamford.