NORWICH – A small, but nonetheless positive chip in the game for opponents of New York Regional Interconnect’s power line proposal came late Thursday.

NYRI is an Albany-based developer proposing to construct a 190 mile-long, 1,200 megawatt power line from Oneida to Orange County, in what company officials say is an effort to alleviate downstate electricity constraints. The line would slice through 44 miles of Chenango County.

A judge representing the New York State Public Service Commission agreed with a motion made on behalf of the Village of Sherburne and the City of Utica that NYRI should provide additional information in its Article VII application.

The state’s transmission citing authority refused NYRI’s initial submission last month, saying it was deficient in several areas. A waiver motion was filed in turn. PSC’s ongoing review process will negate or give way to the Albany subsidiary, whose grand-parent company is based in Toronto.

As part of federal legislation passed in 2005, the U.S. Department of Energy, in conjunction with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, could decide this area is a national interest electric transmission corridor, however, and impose “back-stop” authority to approve the project even if the state denies it, or fails to make a decision by May of next year.