New York State Electric and Gas parent company Energy East Corp.is teaming up with Iroquois Gas Transmission and Vermont EnergyPark Holdings on a combined transmission, distribution and electricgeneration project in southwestern Vermont.

Iroquois would build a new 70-mile, 24-inch diameter lateral offits mainline to the Bennington area southeast of Albany, NY. Thereit would link up with a new distribution system to be built by asubsidiary of Energy East. The distribution line would deliver gasto industrial, commercial and about 30,000 residential customers inVermont along a route to two new combined-cycle gas-firedgeneration plants Vermont Energy would build in Rutland andBennington counties Vermont.

The companies said specific details on the size of the pipelinesand power plants have not been finalized. The project is expectedto be operating by November 2001.

“In addition to the state and federal agencies that have toapprove our plans, we are getting community leaders and propertyowners involved in the planning process to obtain their inputbefore plans are finalized and final regulatory approvals aresought,” said Michael I. German, senior vice president of EnergyEast. “We want to hear from all of the stakeholders and have anopportunity to address their concerns.”

Energy East and subsidiary NYSEG have been more active than mostLDCs in building new distribution franchises in rural areas of NewYork and other states. NYSEG has added 52 new franchise territoriesin the last 10 years and 25 in only the last three years. Andparent Energy East, along with partner Central Maine Power,received conditional authorization in March to begin constructingnew distribution in five areas of Maine, centered on Augusta,Bangor, Bath-Brunswick, Rumford, and Waterville. The Maine projectwill utilize the new Maritimes and Northeast transmission system.

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