ALBANY – If the investors behind the failed New York Regional Interconnect powerline project want to try again, they will have to start back at square one, New York regulators say.
Tuesday, the New York Public Service commission officially dismissed NYRI’s Article VII application which sought permitting authority for a 190-mile long high voltage transmission line they claimed would relieve congestion and lower utility costs for downstate residents.
The dismissal was made with prejudice, meaning the case is officially closed. If NYRI wants to re-address the project, they will need to file a new application.
“I would like to thank all of the many parties that participated in this intensive siting process,” said PSC Chairman Garry Brown in a press statement. “The active parties and the general public supplied invaluable information in this proceeding. The detail that went into the record was greatly facilitated by the public statement hearings that were held.”
The PSC ruling is but the latest in bad news for NYRI. Last week, they discovered that federal regulators did not consider the proposed project to meet the criteria established under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which would have allowed NYRI to receive siting authority directly from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In a letter dated April 14 and addressed to Henry Waxman, the chair of the House Energy Committee, FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff stated he was “not aware of a basis for the Commission to exercise jurisdiction over the NYRI project.”
While located within a designated National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor, the project did not meet the requirements for FERC intervention. Nor has NYRI or any other party filed such a request, Wellinghoff reported.
“To the best of my knowledge, there has been no suggestion that the New York PSC lacks authority to approve the NYRI proposal, or to consider its potential interstate benefits, or that NYRI would not qualify for a New York permit because it would not serve end-use customers in New York,” the FERC chairman explained.
The letter was written in response to a letter sent by Waxman at Congressman Mike Arcuri’s request, which stated the committee chairman’s opposition to NYRI.
The final blow came from the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court, based in Richmond, Va., ruled earlier this year that FERC was interpreting the legislation which established the NIETC designation too broadly. On Monday, the court denied FERC’s motion to rehear the case.
FERC’s next step is to petition the Supreme Court for review of the case, according to John Klucsik, legal counsel for Communities Against Regional Interconnect. While they have 90 days to do so, there is no guarantee that the nation’s highest court will agree to review the matter.
“Review by the Supreme Court is discretionary and the Court actually hears relatively few cases for which a petition is filed,” Klucsik said.
Chenango County Director of Planning Donna M. Jones, who until recently served as CARI’s local representative, said she believes these last three developments truly mean the NYRI fight is over.
“The power line to nowhere is now nowhere,” Jones said. “NYRI’s coffin is now officially nailed shut.”