ALBANY – The administrative law judges overseeing the review process for New York Regional Interconnect’s proposed 400,000 volt direct current transmission line have announced their intent to hold additional public statement hearings and forums in the seven counties which could be impacted by the project.

According to the procedural ruling issued Wednesday, Administrative Law Judges Michelle L. Phillips and Jeffrey E. Stockholm will work to schedule 14 of these hearings along the proposed primary route. These forums will be held in a seven-day period between the end of October and mid-November. Exact times, dates and locations will be forthcoming.

“It is our intent to hold one hearing in or adjacent to every county, as practicable,” stated the judges. They qualified this statement by adding that the plan was “[s]ubject to the availability of appropriate hearing locations and other geographic considerations.”

As of the pre-hearing conference held in Utica on Sept. 8, the PSC had only intended to hold three of these public forums. Two of these sessions had already been scheduled for Oct. 21 and Oct. 22, in Utica and Oneonta respectively. A third, to be held near the end of the project’s proposed route, had not yet been determined.