NYRI -- who are the "hired guns"
honk...@gmail.com
dollars to make sure their project gets consideration.
This news article describes the people lobbying and representing the
investors of the NYRI group. (I wish we had all the names of the
investors)
Check out that Pataki's PSC chairwoman is now in the employ of NYRI.
Gee, I wonder if she was unbiased while on the PSC?
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070516/NEWS/705160341/-1/NEWS
In Albany, NYRI unleashes its very own power elite - lobbyists with
juice
By Brendan Scott
Times Herald-Record
May 16, 2007
Its battle to build a $1.6 billion power line across the state has
just begun, but New York Regional Interconnect has already spent
$292,501 trying to win influence in the halls of power.
Since announcing the 1,200-megawatt mega-project last spring, NYRI has
called out some of the biggest big guns in Albany's and Washington's
high-powered lobbying worlds. In all, the company has 16 lobbyists
from four firms working on its behalf.
Headlining the list is Bracewell & Giuliani, who's Republican bona
fides and roster of former agency heads have led many to consider it
one of the energy industry's most influential advocates on Capitol
Hill.
Bracewell lobbyists registered to represent NYRI include Edward
Krenik. He most recently served as the Bush administration's liaison
between Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency. Such
expertise could prove invaluable to NYRI if the company tries to tap a
new law that lets the federal government override state decisions on
power line projects. Several members of Congress are seeking to gut
the 2005 law. NYRI had paid Bracewell at least $75,000 as of Dec. 31,
according to federal lobbying disclosure records.
Meanwhile, NYRI continues to retain three lobbying firms in the state
capital, where the proposal has met fierce resistance from the
governor to lawmakers to state regulators.
NYRI's Albany lobbyists include Leonard Singer, who also serves as the
company's legal counsel, and Pataki-era Public Service Commission
Chairwoman Maureen Helmer.
State lobbying records, updated every two months, show NYRI had paid
Singer and his firm $29,790 for his lobbying efforts as of April 30.
Helmer and her firm had received $67,500 in the same time frame.
In September, the company also hired Bolton-St. Johns, which reported
taking in $5.2 million in 2006, making it Albany's second-highest
grossing lobbying firm. The firm, which is led by Norman Alder, a
former labor operative and top Assembly aide, is known for its
Democratic ties. Bolton-St. Johns recently hired Adler's old boss,
former Assembly Speaker Mel Miller, D-Brooklyn. NYRI has paid the firm
$120,000.
NYRI's team
Rudy Giuliani: The former New York City mayor lent his name to the
Houston-based lobbying law firm Bracewell & Giuliani in 2004.
Giuliani's campaign says the Republican presidential candidate doesn't
participate in lobbying.
Edward Krenik: Helped craft President Bush's controversial Clean Skies
Act and served as the Environmental Protection Agency's liaison to
Congress. Krenik has since left the administration to join Bracewell.
Norman Adler: Became a leading labor operative and Democratic
strategist after holding the Assembly's most powerful appointed post.
He now leads one of Albany's top lobbying firms.
Mel Miller: Led the Democratic state Assembly from 1987 to 1991, when
a federal fraud conviction forced him to resign. The charges were
later overturned. Miller recently joined Adler's lobbying firm.
Maureen Helmer: Served as top counsel to the Republican state Senate's
Energy Committee before Gov. George Pataki appointed her to lead the
state Public Service Commission. She has since become a lobbyist.
Related Content
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o NYRI hearing set for...Rochester?
o NYC public hearing set for NYRI project
o Hinchey: strip power line program's funding
o NYRI plan still alive
o Federal announcement huge boost for NYRI
o Spitzer tells NYRI: We won't meet till you finish your
impact report
o Congress drafts bill that would leave NYRI decision with
New York state
o Federal bills aim to kill NYRI
o NYRI files lawsuit against New York
o Residents plan to dim the lights in opposition to NYRI
project
o NYRI faces opposition from Democrats