Power-hungry New York City is in the sights of a Canadian firm: Transmission Developers Incorporated is looking to lay a 300-mile transmission line from Quebec to New York City that would be buried under Lake Champlain and the Hudson River. The plan is in its preliminary stages: various New York State agencies that would need to review the project are already aware of it. No formal application has been filed. Environmental Groups have taken notice: The Adirondack Park Agency is engaged in pre-application discussions. The PSC's Jim Denn says submerged electric transmission lines are already in place in other areas of the state. Any PSC review is likely to take time and it could be years before a final determination is forthcoming. Those concerned about what technology may be used in laying the underwater cable will have to wait for answers.

Unlike the failed NYRI project that would have strung a 190-mile long transmission line from Utica to Orange County, TDI's "Champlain-Hudson Express" wouldn't require land acquisitions and wouldn't be visible. Calls to TDI were not returned. A company spokesman told the Albany Times Union that TDI IS planning to build the electric line, but offered no details. The New York Independent System Operator, which oversees the state's bulk transmission system, is doing a feasibility study on the project, but a spokesman declined to go on microphone. According to the NYISO, TDI plans to have the new line operational by 2014.