Oct 21 Oneonta, NY The PSC will be deciding the route for the power lines, according to NYRI

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NYRI hearing to be at SUCO
By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau

The state Public Service Commission has deemed NYRI's application
complete and scheduled public hearings, including one in Oneonta in
October, on the proposed 400,000-watt power line.

Introduced about 21/2 years ago by New York Regional Interconnect
Inc., the proposed direct-current line would run about 190 miles, from
Marcy in Oneida County to New Windsor in Orange County.

NYRI first suggested running the 10-story-tall line through Chenango
and Delaware counties, following rights-of-way owned by NYSEG and the
New York Susquehanna & Western Railway for much of the route. Last
year, at the PSC's request, the firm studied other routes, including
some that would cut through parts of Otsego County.

On Thursday, David Kalson, a NYRI spokesman, said if the project is
approved, the final route will be determined by the PSC.

``Essentially, NYRI wants to run the line from point A to point B, and
it's up to the PSC to determine where it will be built,'' he said.

In May 2006, the firm filed an application to construct the line, but
the PSC determined this document was incomplete. Subsequent filings
were made, and the application continued to be incomplete.

But on Wednesday, state regulators said the proposal is ready to be
evaluated.

Kalson said this week's determination is a ``turning point. All NYRI
is asking is for the project to be considered fairly.''

In its application, the company says its overhead transmission line is
needed to improve the flow of electricity to the New York City area,
particularly at times of high demand. It has acknowledged the project
will drive up the cost of wholesale electricity in upstate New York.

Along its proposed route, the firm and its project have been sharply
criticized, with thousands of residents condemning it as unnecessary
as well as a threat to health and property values.

On Thursday, Chris Rossi, co-chairwoman of Stop NYRI, an anti-NYRI
advocacy group, said opponents are ready for the PSC to start the
formal review.

``In a way, we should be thankful the company is so inept it couldn't
even produce a completed application for more than two years,'' she
said. ``This has given us time to plan, and now we want to have as
many people as possible come to the hearings.''

In the last two years, NYRI's proponents have tried to link the
project to the development of wind power in the state, she said, ``but
that's a false connection. Most of the wind farms would not be on the
path of this line and don't require anything like this massive
project.''

Rossi said NYRI represents ``old technology.'' Rather than run an
industrial line along the rural landscape of upstate New York,
utilities should rewire existing lines with modern cable to carry more
current, she said.

``This project exists for one reason,'' she said. ``To make money for
its investors, at our expense.''

Under the guidelines of the 2005 federal Energy Policy Act, the PSC
has a year to evaluate the project. If the state doesn't give it a
green light by then, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can
override the PSC and allow construction to begin.

That act also allows for conferring eminent domain powers on private
firms building power lines.

Rossi said opponents are hopeful that a change in the federal
administration might lessen the chances of an override by FERC. She
also noted that Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, has opposed the project.

On Thursday, Arcuri's Republican opponent, Richard Hanna, e-mailed The
Daily Star to announce his opposition, writing, ``We cannot allow this
proposal to become reality and destroy our property, our neighborhoods
and our quality of life because New York City has been negligent in
its power-generating decisions.

``As our community's congressman, I will not sit back and watch NYRI
trample on the rights of property owners and misuse eminent domain,''
Hanna continued.

The public information meeting and public statement hearing in Oneonta
will be held Oct. 21 at the Craven Lounge, Morris Hall, at the State
University College at Oneonta.

The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. and people will be allowed to voice
their opinions beginning an hour later.

A similar meeting and hearing in Utica will be held the next day. A
third set of meetings and hearings will be announced later, according
to an e-mail from the PSC.

People requiring special accommodations for the hearings should notify
the PSC by calling (518) 474-2520.