Threats to the Ridge Actions that should be taken to save the Ridge About the Shawangunk Ridge Coalition Media coverage about the Shawangunk Ridge Learn more about the environment of the Shawangunk Ridge Conservation efforts on the Shawangunk Ridge Recreation on the Shawangunk Ridge Maps of the Shawangunk Ridge Links to supporters and affiliated sites Search this site for information Contact information for the Shawangunk Ridge Coalition Return to our home page

Action by Feds Favors Power Line

Friday, April 27, 2007
By Brendan Scott
Times Herald-Record

Washington - It's the news that New York Regional Interconnect has been waiting for.

The U.S. Department of Energy said yesterday that it considers much of New York state - including every county along the NYRI power line's proposed 190-mile route - a "national interest electric transmission corridor."

The first-of-its-kind designation would allow power-line developers within the corridor's bounds to ask the feds for approval if they don't get the results they want from state regulators.

The designation gives a huge boost to NYRI, which hailed the decision as "a responsible step forward for ensuring a sound energy future for our country."

The 1,200-megawatt project has received almost universal opposition from state leaders since it was announced last year.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has repeatedly declared the project "dead on arrival." Now, with new backing from Washington, NYRI said it would renew efforts to convince foes the power line could foster upstate wind and hydro power.

Such power-line projects are rarely popular with locals. That's why the Bush administration made sure the 2005 Energy Policy Act included a process for designating the two proposed power-line paths announced yesterday.

The location of the corridors - Southern California and a huge swath from New York's North Country to the Washington, D.C., metro area - was no surprise. Both heavily populated regions have long suffered from serious electricity bottlenecks.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the designations would "set us on the path to modernize our constrained and congested electric power infrastructure."

The public has 60 days to suggest changes to the corridors. After that, developers seeking to build power lines within the corridors can petition the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for approval.

That's provided that the developers have had an application pending with state regulators for at least 12 months. Those who win federal approval would be able to take private property along their routes by eminent domain.

The prospect of Washington overriding a state decision represents a cosmic shift in the siting of new power lines. States have responded with outrage as new projects like NYRI spring up along the Eastern Seaboard.

Several members of the new Democratic majority in Congress are talking about repealing the Energy Policy Act. New York Reps. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, John Hall, D-Dover Plains, and Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, issued a joint statement condemning Bodman's decision.

"We have been opposed to this egregious process since the beginning and plan to continue our efforts to prevent the NYRI proposal every step of the way," the congressmen said.

The Energy Department will host a public hearing on its proposed power line corridors May 23 in New York City. A location has not yet been announced.

NYRI opponents vow to continue fighting
The federal designation hit local power-line opponents in the gut.

"Oh, no, that's crazy. That's not good at all," said Bill Douglass, executive director of the Upper Delaware Council in the western Sullivan = hamlet of Narrowsburg. "Ooof" was the one-syllable reaction of Nina Guenste of the Town of Wallkill, a leader of the SayNo2NYRI group.

But once they overcame their initial shock, local opponents vowed to continue the fight at the state level. They aim to uphold a state law blocking New York Regional Interconnect's ability to take private land by eminent domain - and hope the feds take notice.

And they hope this ruling rallies other regions where power lines could be built.

"This has got to start galvanizing people around the country," Douglass said. "Then we'll look for another pot of money and fight in Washington."

-- Steve Israel

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070427/NEWS/704270348