Power Cable Proposed to Run Underground Through Dresden / Possibly Increase Tax Base


The portion of a new high voltage power cable (as seen in red) that is proposed from the U.S.-Canadian border to New York City is planned to run underground through the Town of Dresden. (Click image to see full scale.)

The Champlain Hudson Power Express is a proposed power transmission line that is anticipated to bring clean energy from the U.S.-Canadian border to New York City. The line will be a high voltage direct cable that will be placed in waterways or buried along railway routes to minimize impacts to local communities and the environment.

The proposed project extends 333 miles from the U.S. — Canadian border to New York City. Plans call for two, 5-inch diameter cables to be placed underwater or underground. The underwater portions of the preferred route include Lake Champlain and the Hudson River between Albany and Manhattan.

Presently, the proposed route for the transmission cable brings it out of Lake Champlain and through Dresden along Route 22. Basically, it would exit Lake Champlain north of Clemons and run alongside Route 22 all the way to the South Bay Bridge crossing Lake Champlain.

The entire route of the cable can be seen here, while the part that runs overland through Dresden can be seen on a Google Map download which can be found on this page. (See section numbers 101-110 on the Google Earth map.)

Sheets 1-24 of this 370 page .pdf map show the exact propsed route through Dresden.

The developers of the line are still in the process of obtaining approvals but hope to begin construction in 2014. Dresden could potentially receive additional tax revenue because the cable could be considered an “improvement,” increasing the assessed value of the land that the cable is placed upon.

The developers claim that the project will cost approximately $2 billion and the goal is for the cable to be in service by the fall of 2016. The $2 billion project represents one of the largest investments in New York State history and will create an average of more than 300 jobs during the 3 ½ year construction period.

To learn more visit: www.chpexpress.com/