At a press conference today, State Senator Tony Hwang (R–Fairfield) urged the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) to reconsider and dismiss its recent straw-vote approval under Docket 516R. He called on United Illuminating (UI) to submit a new application that fully complies with the transparency and due-process standards of Public Act 24-144.
“This isn’t anti-infrastructure—it’s pro-process, pro-community, and pro-solution,” Hwang said. “The Council’s abrupt reversal—without any new public testimony, fact-finding, or record development—undermines confidence in a body that must be above reproach. We need a lawful reset that restores public trust.”
Speakers criticized the project’s impact on municipal, church, and library properties, calling it an “unprecedented taking” of more than 19 acres of land. They also warned of irreversible damage to Southport’s historic district, where 140-foot towers and clear-cutting would alter the viewsheds of three National Historic Landmarks.
Hwang also pushed back against characterizations of the opposition as a “NIMBY” movement. NIMBY—short for Not In My Back Yard—is often used to dismiss community objections to development. “This is not about NIMBY,” Hwang stressed. “This is about protecting communities from an unjust process. Instead of partnering with the communities it serves, UI is fighting against them.”
Democrats and Republicans in Fairfield and Bridgeport stood together at the event, pledging to fight the project in defense of residents, businesses, and historic neighborhoods.
