Connecticut Light and Power (CL&P) is refusing to pay Lincoln Street residents seeking restitution for work it has been doing along their street for almost two years.

Several homeowners, who have given individual written complaints with requested funds, say the work CL&P has been doing as part of the Middletown-Norwalk transmission upgrade project has caused excessive noise and lighting in their neighborhood, limited access to their street and possible damages to their homes. They also say they were told the project, which began in the early part of last year, was going to take only two weeks.

Laurie E. Aylsworth, vice president of Transmission Projects, Engineering and Maintenance for Northeast Utilities (NU), said CL&P, which is owned by NU, has never paid for "punitive damages" as a result of its upgrades, which also include the Glenbrook (Stamford) Cables and Bethel-Norwalk projects.

"We have not, in any of the 24 towns, provided monetary compensation, or punitive damages, for inconvenience due to construction," she said Friday during an interview attended by CL&P spokesman Frank Poirot.

Aylsworth said all of CL&P's customers would be paying for the "punitive damages" if the company awarded them to the Lincoln Street

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residents, who were notified of CL&P's position in writing.

"The Lincoln Street group, as much as we understand their frustration, is no different from any other community we've touched in these projects," she said. "These projects are difficult, and we recognize that they impact residents, but Lincoln Street is being treated no differently."

Neither CL&P nor the residents would comment on how much money is being sought.

Aylsworth said CL&P does pay for any property damages caused by its construction projects, provided the resident submits a claim and proves that the damage was caused by CL&P.

"That's different from punitive damages," she said. "If we cause damage and it's our fault, we make the people whole. We repair it or we come in and have people replace it."

Aylsworth said CL&P will also repave the street, replace the curbing and the sidewalks, restore any disturbed landscaping, reimburse them for one month's use of electricity and power-wash their homes.

"When we're done, Lincoln Street will be improved over what it was when we got there," he said. "It'll actually add value to that neighborhood."

Nonetheless, Tina Torrocco, a resident of Lincoln Street speaking for her neighbors, said CL&P has not occupied another small neighborhood for almost two years.

"That is why we feel they have never been forced to pay anyone compensation," she said. "Many large corporations take advantage of the public and get away with it until they are caught. We feel CL&P should be held accountable for their lies and misrepresentation with reference to their timeline of their project on Lincoln Street. We were told two weeks, not two years."

Randi Ross, another Lincoln Street resident, said they are having discussions with an attorney, who is waiting to file suit against CL&P.

Poirot said the new infrastructure, which is worth about $92 million, will increase Westport's property tax bill to CL&P by $1 million to $1.4 million as a result of the project, which entails the underground installation of 345-kilovolt electrical lines to supplement overhead 115-kv lines.

Aylsworth said the number-one benefit of the CL&P projects, which are collectively called the "Southwestern Connecticut Solution," is the increase to its reliability as a power supplier in one of the country's most congested, "high-risk" areas.

Southwestern Connecticut is the economic engine for the state, yet it has the worst reliability in New England until these projects are built," she said.

Furthermore, the Bethel-Norwalk and the Glenbrook projects, which are already completed, have reduced annual congestion pricing from $300 million to $150 million.

When we complete Middle­town-Norwalk, we'll improve that even more," she said.

Despite the savings, Aylsworth said CL&P, which also donates millions of dollars to charities, has had to raise its rates due to the cost of electricity, which it no longer produces since the state deregulated the business of electrical supply.

"We're just the pipeline," she said.

Aylsworth said the residents of Lincoln Street were told that the work would last only two weeks because the contractors told them that's how long the trenching would take.

"There's a lot more aspects than the trenching," she said. "That's where we didn't understand it."

Poirot said the Lincoln Street project was lengthened by an additional six months because drilling under the Saugatuck River had to be reversed, thus requiring the staging of trench boxes on Lincoln Street instead of Imperial Avenue.

Aylsworth said the direction had to reversed due to the condition of the bed under the river.

"Are they right to be upset that the timing we told them was not accurate? Yes," she said. "Did we do it intentionally or maliciously? No."

Aylsworth said CL&P, however, needs to improve its communication with residents and estimates on how long its projects will take.

"We know we need to get better on that," she said.

CL&P expects to finish the above-ground work in Westport this summer and the below-ground work, which includes installing the cables, by the end of 2008. CL&P hopes to finish the entire Middle­town-Norwalk project, which is estimated at about $1 billion, and the rest of the projects by early 2009, Aylsworth said.

For information on CL&P's project, visit www.transmission-nu.com/residential/projects.asp, or call the Middletown-Norwalk hotline at (866) 643-6679.