CHENANGO COUNTY – Citizens opposing New York Regional Interconnect Inc.’s power line are hoping two of their finest hours will be spent fighting in the darkness – to better illuminate their cause.

STOP NYRI Inc., the citizens group spanning Madison and Chenango County, is initiating a “Night Without Lights,” and asking residents along the 200-mile <a href="http://www.evesun.com/topics/news/NYRI/">NYRI</a> corridor to turn off their lights from 7-9 p.m., on Thursday, Dec. 21, as a demonstration of solidarity and strength against the 400,000 kilovolt power line. STOP NYRI, along with other groups and citizens, believe if the line is built, it would devastate the region’s economy, drastically decrease property values, hurt the environment and pose a significant health risk.

“Our hope is to see house after house dark for two hours on the first day of winter,” states a press release from STOP NYRI Inc. “Citizens all along the 200-mile proposed route of NYRI’s project want to demonstrate to friends, neighbors and others that they object to a mammoth, private corporation destroying our communities.”

Dec. 21 is the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year in this hemisphere.

STOP NYRI member and Hamilton resident Dave Hollis said the group was prompted to organize the “Night Without Lights” following recent rumors and political statements that have led some people to believe the power line bid was dead, and no longer an issue. Rather, Hollis said the proposal is very much alive, and people should be pacing themselves to fight this project for at least the next two to three years, knowing it could take them all the way to Washington, D.C.