MIDDLEBURY — The Addison County Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC) board voted 23 to 9 on Wednesday evening, July 1, to affirm its support of Phase I of the Addison Rutland Natural Gas Project.
The commission met Wednesday evening to determine whether a change in its position might be in order given a dramatic rise in the estimated costs of laying the natural gas pipeline from Colchester to Middlebury and Vergennes. That cost was once placed at $86 million, but has now ballooned to $154 million, raising new questions about how the Phase I project will be financed. The Vermont Public Service Board recently concluded two days of reviewing those new cost estimates.
During more than 90 minutes of comments and questions, ACRPC delegates and around 20 members of the public discussed the new Phase I cost estimates and the potential merits of asking for the Public Service Board to a re-evaluate the Certificate of Public Good that it granted the project back in December of 2013.
The board will send the Public Service Board a record of its vote by July 8, so that it can be included in the public record of its latest review of the Phase I cost estimates.
A complete report of Wednesday’s ACRPC meeting will be published in the Monday, July 6 issue of the Independent.