WASHINGTON – Chenango County will be one step closer to disaster if New York Regional Interconnect’s power line route becomes part of a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor, Woods Corners resident Betsy Mahannah says.
“This is going to be one more blow to the area,” Mahannah said, citing the economic downturn that’s hit much of upstate New York. “They (U.S. Department of Energy) need to consider the people whose lifestyle they’re going to change... the impact is going to be on all of us.”
Over 70 percent of New York state, including all of NYRI’s proposed route, and seven other states on the East Coast, have been temporarily classified by the U.S. Department of Energy as a “Mid-Atlantic” NIETC. If the designation – which gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the authority to take-over power line reviews in that area, despite state authority – stands as is, many fear Washington would push NYRI’s project, and others like it, through in an effort to fast-track energy investment and relieve energy constraints.
“This corridor isn’t the solution,” said Mahannah, whose home sits less than 40 feet from NYRI’s power line path and would have to be condemned if the power line is approved.
A spokeswoman for the DOE said offering solutions to the country’s energy problems isn’t the purpose of the corridor designations.
“We are looking to identify areas of congestion and constraint that directly affect consumers. That’s what we’ve done,” said DOE spokeswoman Julie Ruggiero. “The purpose is to show where the problems areas are, not to put forth solutions.”
Ruggiero said the department is now examining at least one-thousand public comments that were submitted in regards to the draft NIETC designations. Based upon those comments, the DOE staff will make a recommendation to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman as to what the final corridor should look like, if one is deemed necessary. Ruggiero said there is no timeline for when the final NIETC decision will come.
“The secretary will decide to designate, not designate or change the draft,” she said.
Ruggiero said environmental and economic impacts of the corridors will also come in due time. She added that the department worked with “a sense of urgency” to identify problem areas before “a serious problem,” like the rolling blackouts in New York in 2003 could occur on a wider scale.
While corridor status would benefit NYRI, company officials say they plan to fully remain within the state process guided by the Public Service Commission.
“NYRI is actively pursuing the state siting process, which is the Article VII process under the New York Public Service Commission,” said NYRI Project Manager William May in a recent written statement. “We began developing the Article VII application for the project well before the federal energy policy act of 2005.”
NYRI’s first Article VII application was turned away by the PSC a year ago because it was deficient in 10 different technical areas.
Within an NIETC, FERC can supplant state authority if a power line proposal isn’t reviewed within one year of filing its completed application or if the project is approved with unfair stipulations. However, the commission can also step in if a project is denied. If approved by FERC, NYRI could take property using federal eminent domain.
NYRI is proposing to build a high-voltage transmission line from Oneida to Orange County – splitting 44 miles of Chenango – to relieve energy constraints in Metropolitan New York. Among the deficiencies listed by the PSC in NYRI’s review application was proof its 190-mile-long transmission line would increase energy reliability downstate.