NORWICH – The Marcy-South transmission corridor isn’t wide enough to support the New York Regional Interconnect power line, a spokesman for the New York Power Authority said Friday.
That means NYRI would have to condemn more land to make room for its project if it were to parallel the existing 207-mile-long power line, which runs through neighboring Otsego County.
“There is only enough right of way to support Marcy-South,” said Michael Saltzman, a spokesman for the power authority, which owns and operates the 345 kilo-volt line. “There is no extra right of way that is not being used by the existing Marcy-South line.”
Neither the power authority nor officials from the state Public Service Commission (PSC) would offer schematics of the right of way plans for Marcy-South, citing security reasons.
NYRI was ordered by the PSC to study building its $1.6 billion power line next to Marcy-South as an alternative to its proposed route, which runs through 44 miles of Chenango County on railroad and NYSEG right of ways.
A NYRI spokesman would not comment specifically on the viability of Marcy-South as an actual route option.
“The Marcy South route is among the routes that NYRI studied in response to PSC requests, and that route will be reported on extensively in NYRI’s supplemental filing for the PSC’s consideration,” stated NYRI spokesman David Kalson in an e-mail message Friday. “Every route, and combinations of routes, including the Marcy South route, has advantages and disadvantages that the PSC considers before making its siting decision.”
The supplemental power line permit filing, awaited since July 2006, is expected Feb. 22. Official PSC review proceedings should begin soon thereafter.
Marcy-South is a 345 kilo-volt line that runs 207 miles from Marcy to East Fish Kill, carrying hydro-electric power downstate that’s shipped in from Quebec. It runs through six upstate counties, less than 25 miles in some spots from where NYRI’s line would go in Chenango County.
Prior to being ordered by the PSC, NYRI officials had said the Marcy-South route was not a consideration due to certain space constraints and its acquisition of railroad easement rights elsewhere.
“NYRI did not specifically look at the Marcy-South right of way in other locations as its first preference was to co-locate its transmission line in the operating railroads where NYRI had acquired development rights,” states NYRI in a July 2006 letter sent to U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY).
The power line developer paid the New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad $1.5 million for rights to purchase easements along the tracks if its project is approved. That deal reportedly expires this year.
NYRI claims its line would relieve energy constraints downstate, prompting opponents of the project to question if more juice can be sent down Marcy-South to offset the need for another large power line.
According to Saltzman, on peak demand, Marcy-South is transporting all the electricity it can.
“It’s not unusual that during the summer for the line to used at or near full capacity to meet peak energy demand,” said Saltzman.
In a 2003 report examining the state’s transmission system, IBM claims, “The Marcy-South line is being stretched to its physical capacity and electrical limits daily, operating at maximum capacity 25 percent of the time and with 100 megawatts of it the rest of the time.”