NORWICH – Government leaders have received correspondence from promoters of New York Regional Interconnect (NYRI) that tout the project's monetary incentives to municipalities.

Town of Norwich Supervisor David C. Law told members of the Chenango County Planning Board this week that he had received a letter touting a total of $37.2 million in annual tax payments to municipalities and school districts along the proposed power line’s 190-mile route from Oneida to Orange County. All 44 miles of Chenango County - from north to south - is being targeted for the $2 billion power line that is intended to relieve electrical grid congestion primarily downstate.

“They are really pushing what revenues are going to mean, trying to buy their way in. It hasn’t changed my mind,” Law said.

The supervisor is one of many in the county and throughout the state who, like citizen groups such as Stop NYRI and Communities Against Regional Interconnect, oppose the private company’s plans to build the line.

NYRI’s letter to Law stated the 400,000 volt power line would relieve wholesale electricity rates by 5.7 percent and save New Yorkers $684 million annually, he said. “Notice they didn’t specify what part of New York by being clever and saying, ‘New Yorkers.’ It (the line) won’t help upstate’s rates,” he said.

Planning Board member Perry Owen said he planned to attend a Public Service Commission public hearing for NYRI next month. He said he would bring medical and environmental experts to provide testimonials. He also planned to offer a list of Chenango County property owners who would be displaced through eminent domain.