Enlist grass-roots support early

There were merits to the New York Regional Interconnect project recently abandoned by its sponsors.

It was the first serious project put forth since the blackout of 2003 to prevent one from happening again. It was a blackout that crippled New York City, the Hudson Valley, and the Northeast and left 55 million people without power for several days in the muggy heat of August.

It would have reduced electricity costs, generated hundreds of new jobs and millions of dollars in new property tax revenue in the affected communities.

There were also environmental reasons for the project including reduced dependence on fossil fuels and coal-generated electricity, cleaner air, greater use of renewable energy, reductions in greenhouse gases and new investments in renewable sources of energy.

It you were unaware of the benefits of the project, it isn't your fault. Few were. NYRI's sponsors invested comparatively little in a pro-active campaign to advertise its benefits, opting instead to cast its lot almost entirely with lawyers and lobbyists.

The result was completely predictable. From the moment the plans were announced and communities along its proposed route faced the prospect of 10-story-tall power lines in their backyard, grass-roots opposition ignited. Mayors, county executives, senators and congressmen quickly condemned the project, vowing to do all in their power to stop it.

To be sure, NYRI did finally hire a very capable New York City public relations firm, which made a valiant last-ditch effort to tout the merits of the project and enlist grass-roots support. But the firm was brought in long after the damage had been done, and was given too few resources to combat the din of forceful and vocal local opposition.

The lesson? There are several.

Public and community relations on any large or potentially controversial project should begin before the rollout with meetings and conferences with key players, stakeholders, public officials, community leaders and bloggers. They don't react well to reading about a project in their backyard if they have not first heard about it from the project's sponsors.

Natural allies of a project must be enlisted early and be willing to echo the merits of what is being proposed. If they are not, the message will never be validated. NYRI had natural allies that were never enlisted, allies that largely sat silently on the sidelines, unwilling or afraid to say anything positive. Think of the teachers who would have benefited from new money for schools, construction unions that would have benefited from the jobs, environmentalists who like clean fuel, business entities that need cheaper energy and property taxpayers who would have seen their tax rates cut thanks to NYRI's property tax payments.

The public matters — a lot. Regardless of the merits of a project, the jobs it will generate or the tax revenue it will produce, it matters not one whit if the project sponsors do not take proactive steps to inform the public through paid advertising and by building support at the grass-roots level. As NYRI's sponsors learned the hard way, regulatory agencies and commissions are not immune to public opinion. Neither are judges, planning boards, town boards, city councils or zoning board of appeals or any other body that includes those who face the voters or those who are appointed by politicians who answer to them. Not the Public Service Commission. Not even the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

NYRI's failure is a powerful public relations lesson to any developer putting forth a project with a level of controversy. Leverage proactive public relations to educate the stake-holders, enlist your allies and engage the public.