NORWICH – Parties involved in the New York Regional Interconnect power line case met Tuesday with representatives from the Albany-based company in front of a judge with the New York state Public Service Commission, as part of mediation hearings scheduled for the coming month.
NYRI’s Article VII power line citing application was turned-away by the PSC in July because it was ruled deficient of a number of necessary pieces of information. The upcoming hearings are aimed at gathering the parties’ opinions, and having some of the required information disclosed. Until NYRI’s application is fully supplemented, the power line developer’s project will remain ineligible for review, according to PSC law.
“The purposes of this conference are to adopt ground rules and a schedule for this mediation process,” states a Jan. 16 PSC press release, “and to discuss and clarify the proposals tendered on January 8, 2007 by New York Regional Interconnect Inc. concerning scope and methodology for studies or analysis of routing alternatives, potential cumulative impacts, visual impact analysis, and threatened and endangered species.”
A representative of the PSC said the results of Tuesday’s hearing are at this point confidential.
“So far, if anything, the judge (Eleanor Stein) will issue an order in regards to the specifics discussed at the mediation sessions,” said Director of Public Affairs James A. Denn in a phone interview with The Evening Sun. “Those sessions are confidential to give the parties an opportunity to express themselves freely.”
Stein has yet to issue an order, and in the press release the PSC said the purpose of the initial hearing was to establish overall ground rules and set a schedule for the series of sessions.
“NYRI is pleased to finally hear formally from all interested parties under NYPSC auspices so we can resolve issues concerning additional information requested by the Commission,” stated NYRI project manager Bill May in Jan. 22 press release. “It’s important that members of the public understand this project and are given an opportunity to provide input.”
NYRI is proposing to construct a 190-mile long high-voltage power line from Marcy to New Windsor that would slice through 44 miles of Chenango County. The company claims the line would provide much needed energy with cheaper prices for downstate. However, residents upstate are angered that they would incur an acknowledged hike in local utilities, the condemnation of private property for power line use, and the advent of 115 steel towers along the countryside – a result they say would kill any future economic and residential development in and around the nearly 200 miles of rural area the line covers.
The project was announced in March, and since then NYRI opposition groups have sprouted up from Oneida to Orange County. Hubbardsville resident Bill Viola hopes that citizens and government officials will remain vigilant in the fight.
“It has been almost one year since these issues have come to light and if people who reside in the towns and counties directly affected by NYRI’s proposed route think these are dead issues – it is a safe bet to say that the people beyond the route who will be indirectly affected, have never even heard of these issues,” Viola said. “Much more needs to be done.”
NYRI has said it will pay property taxes and provide a community fund of $30 million to be spread out among the municipalities the line runs through.