NORWICH – Norwich’s town board passed a local law Monday that would block the permitting and construction of direct current power lines for the next five years.

Local Law #1 is directed at New York Regional Interconnect Inc., an Albany-based subsidiary of Canadian energy investors looking to build a high voltage power line from Oneida to Orange County. The 190-mile-long facility would carry 400,000 volts of electricity downstate, bisecting six townships in Chenango County with 115-foot-tall steel towers.

“It’s is an extension of what we did last year,” said Supervisor Dave Law at the public hearing Monday night, referring to a one-year power line moratorium the town – along with several other municipalities – passed in spring 2006. “This (<a href="http://www.evesun.com/topics/news/NYRI/">NYRI</a> issue) is going to be a lengthy thing before it’s done. We wanted to put our feet down and make a concrete stance on this.”