WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – A woman who has spent 40 summers at her camp near Moon Lake in the town of Theresa says she has never had electricity connected to her property, despite utility poles running alongside it.
“I can’t use the oven, because it needs that electrical spark,” Robyn Montanaro said.
Montanaro said the rest of the surrounding area appears to be fully electric — but her property has been left without a connection.
The problem
“For years, we’ve been here the same amount of years, my neighbor and I. Why are we left forgotten,” Montanaro said.
Utility poles run alongside Montanaro’s property, but she said she has been told they cannot handle electric service. The last transformer ends approximately a quarter mile down the road. On the opposite side of the road, power also ends just short of her property.
“Why should we be subject to not having that same, you know, utility,” Montanaro said.
Investment made in anticipation of power
Hoping to live at the property year-round, Montanaro built a new cabin last year with electricity hookups and a septic system.
“When I put up the A-frame here, it was said, ‘All we need to bring in power to you is a foundation, a building, a septic, and a driveway.’ Well, that didn’t work. I used my life savings to build this, thinking this was going to be the end all for me,” Montanaro said.
She said that in conversations with National Grid, the answer has always been that they are working on it.
National Grid responds
According to a National Grid spokesperson, the project was delayed while utility pole ownership was established and municipal permissions were secured.
The spokesperson said the company will be able to move forward in providing service to Montanaro and that it will be in contact with her.
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