Residents fed up with PSEG's $15 million powerline project sounded off during a meeting Monday night.

Hundreds of Town of North Hempstead residents blasted PSEG for the 80-foot utility pole installation already popping up on Port Washington Boulevard. They say the five-mile transmission line from Port Washington to Great Neck took them by surprise. They said the poles are unsightly and potentially dangerous.

"These [poles] can upturn. We had trees this tall that were uprooted," said Roberta Cooperman, of Port Washington. "If this gets uprooted, it's very unsafe."

PSEG officials say the new poles are safer and can handle storm winds of up to 130 miles per hour. Many residents at the meeting say they would rather see the transmission line put underground.

PSEG spokesman Jeffrey Weir says putting the transmission lines underground would come at price of $20 to $30 million.

Officials say they plan to finish the powerline project by the end of May to avoid summer blackouts. They say they will consider proposals to underground the lines after the project is done.