Pataki names new head for PSC
NORWICH – With one month to go in his final term as governor, George Pataki decided not to yield at least one concession to the reform-claiming governor-elect, Eliot Spitzer.
Pataki went ahead and appointed a new chairperson to the state’s Public Service Commission Friday, replacing William Flynn, who resigned Thursday. According to a press release, Pataki named Patricia Acampora as the new head of the PSC, which is the agency charged with reviewing power line proposals such as the New York Regional Interconnection, which would traverse through 44 miles of Chenango County. Acampora is a former state Assemblywoman from Long Island and was – up until her promotion – one of five commissioners with the PSC.
“Commissioner Acampora’s legislative background and recent experience on the commission make her ideally suited to step into the role as chairwoman,” Governor Pataki said. “Pat has a long, distinguished career in public service and I am confident she will continue to serve the people of New York well in her new role.”
According to a spokesperson from the PSC, Spitzer will still be able to make his own choice once in office Jan. 1.
“He (Spitzer) would be able to retain her (Acampora) or appoint someone else,” said Gary Davidson, the PSC’s Director of Public Affairs.
A Spitzer representative declined comment.
Betsy Mahannah, a Woods Corners resident, said she hopes Acampora will personally consider how the NYRI power line project – which would be built over her home on railroad right of ways roughly 40 feet from her back door – will affect the livelihoods of her neighbors and other homeowners in the communities along the proposed 200-mile-long route.
“Hopefully this new person is well aware of what’s happening, and aware of the concerns of the citizens along the 200 miles,” said Mahannah. “Hopefully they will come down here and see the people living here, see the communities, and see the what a disruption to their lives this line would be.”
Albany-based New York Regional Interconnect Inc. announced in March its plans to build the high-voltage, direct current line from Oneida to Orange County, in what they claim is an effort to relieve energy constraints downstate. The company filed an Article VII power line review application with the PSC on May 31. The commission deemed the filing incomplete in July, and said it would have to be fixed before a review could move forward. NYRI spokesman David Kalson said the deficient application is being supplemented, and that Flynn’s resignation would have “no effect” on the project.
NYRI has admitted that communities hosting the power line will not be able to tap into the energy it is transporting and that it will raise energy rates upstate, while lowering them downstate. Citizens and politicians from Orange County and above have come out in opposition to the line, calling for NYRI’s bid to be held back arguing that energy sources should be built closer to where the energy is needed. Concerns over plummeting property values, negative health effects, and environmental alterations as a result of the line have been at the forefront of the opposition arguments.
On the federal level, the upcoming designation in the new year of “National Interest Electricity Transmission Corridors” across the U.S. has been a controversial, yet expected development related to the power line issue. If designated in a corridor, New York state’s authority to review NYRI’s power line, or others like it, could fall into the hands of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In August, the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that southereastern New York and New York City, which would supposedly benefit from the NYRI line, are part of a “critically congested” area.
According to the press release, Chairperson Acampora served for 12 years in the New York State Legislature representing the 1st Assembly District on Long Island. She was a ranking member of the Assembly’s Labor Committee, a member of the Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee, the Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions Committee, the Banking Committee and the Governmental Employees Committee. She also served as a member of the National Legislative Task Force on Criminal Justice and the Assembly Heath Care Task Force. She has been a commissioner with the PSC since 2005.
Pataki went ahead and appointed a new chairperson to the state’s Public Service Commission Friday, replacing William Flynn, who resigned Thursday. According to a press release, Pataki named Patricia Acampora as the new head of the PSC, which is the agency charged with reviewing power line proposals such as the New York Regional Interconnection, which would traverse through 44 miles of Chenango County. Acampora is a former state Assemblywoman from Long Island and was – up until her promotion – one of five commissioners with the PSC.
“Commissioner Acampora’s legislative background and recent experience on the commission make her ideally suited to step into the role as chairwoman,” Governor Pataki said. “Pat has a long, distinguished career in public service and I am confident she will continue to serve the people of New York well in her new role.”
According to a spokesperson from the PSC, Spitzer will still be able to make his own choice once in office Jan. 1.
“He (Spitzer) would be able to retain her (Acampora) or appoint someone else,” said Gary Davidson, the PSC’s Director of Public Affairs.
A Spitzer representative declined comment.
Betsy Mahannah, a Woods Corners resident, said she hopes Acampora will personally consider how the NYRI power line project – which would be built over her home on railroad right of ways roughly 40 feet from her back door – will affect the livelihoods of her neighbors and other homeowners in the communities along the proposed 200-mile-long route.
“Hopefully this new person is well aware of what’s happening, and aware of the concerns of the citizens along the 200 miles,” said Mahannah. “Hopefully they will come down here and see the people living here, see the communities, and see the what a disruption to their lives this line would be.”
Albany-based New York Regional Interconnect Inc. announced in March its plans to build the high-voltage, direct current line from Oneida to Orange County, in what they claim is an effort to relieve energy constraints downstate. The company filed an Article VII power line review application with the PSC on May 31. The commission deemed the filing incomplete in July, and said it would have to be fixed before a review could move forward. NYRI spokesman David Kalson said the deficient application is being supplemented, and that Flynn’s resignation would have “no effect” on the project.
NYRI has admitted that communities hosting the power line will not be able to tap into the energy it is transporting and that it will raise energy rates upstate, while lowering them downstate. Citizens and politicians from Orange County and above have come out in opposition to the line, calling for NYRI’s bid to be held back arguing that energy sources should be built closer to where the energy is needed. Concerns over plummeting property values, negative health effects, and environmental alterations as a result of the line have been at the forefront of the opposition arguments.
On the federal level, the upcoming designation in the new year of “National Interest Electricity Transmission Corridors” across the U.S. has been a controversial, yet expected development related to the power line issue. If designated in a corridor, New York state’s authority to review NYRI’s power line, or others like it, could fall into the hands of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In August, the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that southereastern New York and New York City, which would supposedly benefit from the NYRI line, are part of a “critically congested” area.
According to the press release, Chairperson Acampora served for 12 years in the New York State Legislature representing the 1st Assembly District on Long Island. She was a ranking member of the Assembly’s Labor Committee, a member of the Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee, the Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions Committee, the Banking Committee and the Governmental Employees Committee. She also served as a member of the National Legislative Task Force on Criminal Justice and the Assembly Heath Care Task Force. She has been a commissioner with the PSC since 2005.
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