The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) will hold a Public Statement Hearing in Greenwich, New York to seek public comment on a petition by Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation d/b/a National Grid (National Grid) for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, under Public Service Law §68, to exercise a franchise granted by the Village of Greenwich (Village), Washington County, New York, to provide natural gas service.

The hearing will give interested members of the public an opportunity to state their views personally before an Administrative Law Judge assigned to the case.  A court stenographer will make a word-for-word transcript of the hearing, which will become part of the record of the proceeding.

It is not necessary to make an appointment in advance or present written material to speak at the hearing.  It is not necessary to be present at the start of the hearing. Persons interested in speaking will be asked to complete a card requesting time to speak when they arrive at the hearing, and will be called in the order in which the cards are received. Speakers are not required to provide written copies of their comments; however, it will be helpful to the court reporter. The hearing will be held open for a minimum of one hour, and will continue until 8:00 p.m. if necessary to hear people speak.  If not all speakers can be heard by then, other reasonable arrangements to receive their comments will be made.

Disabled persons requiring special accommodations may place a collect call to the Department of Public Service's Human Resource Management Office at 518-474-2520 and should contact that office as soon as possible. TDD users may request a sign language interpreter by placing a call through the New York Relay Service at 711 to reach the Department of Public Service’s Human Resource Management Office at the previously mentioned number.

Public Statement Hearing

Greenwich                Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Evening Session starting: 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Greenwich Central High School - Auditorium
10 Gray Avenue
Greenwich, New York 12834

Summary of Case

On August 13, 2012, the Village granted the franchise for a period of 20 years, with automatic renewals for similar terms in the absence of termination by the Village.  To serve customers, National Grid expects that it will initially install 4.3 miles of eight-inch plastic pipe (80 psi) distribution main running along New York Route 29 and through the Village, as well as various appurtenant facilities and the service lines necessary to provide service to individual customers.  National Grid has prepared a Short Form Environmental Impact Assessment maintaining that, since the proposed main extension will be located in existing roadways, the extension of its distribution system will not cause significant permanent alteration of the land or other adverse environmental impacts. Additional details are reflected in the case, which is available on the Commission's Web site (go to www.dps.ny.gov, click on "Search" and then search using case number "12-G-0371").

The Commission may approve, approve with changes, or reject National Grid’s petition in whole or in part.

How to Comment on the Case

For those who cannot attend or prefer not to speak at a public statement hearing, there are several other ways to provide comments about this case to the Commission. Regardless of your choice, comments should refer to "Case 12-G-0371 - National Grid - Greenwich Gas Franchise.”

Submit comments electronically: Go to the Web site (www.dps.ny.gov/), click on "Search", search using case number "12-G-0371", and then click on “Post Comments” at the top of the page. Alternately, e-mail comments may be sent directly to the Secretary to the Commission at [email protected].

Mail or Delivery:  Comments may be mailed or delivered to Hon. Jaclyn A. Brilling, Secretary, Public Service Commission, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350.

Call the Department’s Toll-Free Opinion Line at 1-800-335-2120.  This number is designed to take comments about pending cases from in-state callers, 24 hours a day.  Callers should press “1” to leave comments.

Comments submitted via these alternate means are requested by September 24, 2012. Comments will become part of the record considered by the Commission. Written comments may be accessed on the Web site by searching Case 12-G-0371. Many libraries offer free Internet access.

Next Steps

A verbatim transcript of the public statement hearings will be made for inclusion in the record of these proceedings.

For more information click here for a copy of the case fact sheet.