ROCHESTER – New York State Electric and Gas Corp. filed an application late Monday to build a nearly 11-mile electrical transmission line from the Town of Sherburne to serve Agro Farma’s growing production facility in Columbus.

NYSEG proposes to build a new 46-kv transmission line from its existing county line substation in the Town of Sherburne through the towns of Sherburne and Columbus, to a new substation to be built in Columbus. The proposed route calls for the first approximately 6.75 miles of the new transmission line to be built parallel to an existing transmission line using some existing right of way. The remaining approximately 3.95 miles of the proposed route will require all new rights of way.

Property owners will be contacted to discuss new easements that are needed, a press release stated. Town of Columbus Supervisor Tom Grace said this morning that while Agro Farma “needs the power,” he hoped that NYSEG would be “open to burying lines in sensitive areas to minimize enviromental and aesthetic problems.”

The Chenango County Industrial Development Agency will act as the lead agency, as required under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. The project falls below the 69-kilovolt threshold that would otherwise require approval from the state’s Public Service Commission.