WASHINGTON – Nearly three weeks ago an amendment that appears to strengthen a controversial power line policy was slipped into a popular piece of federal energy legislation.
The Clean Energy Act, which cuts back government money for big oil companies and pushes alternative fuel production, passed the House in January and the Senate June 21. A late-amendment in the Senate’s version of that bill, however, expands the U.S. Department of Energy’s definition of what can be classified as a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor.
An NIETC is a geographic area where, under certain circumstances, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can overrule state authority to fast-track power line proposals, like New York Regional Interconnect’s, in places that have severe energy congestion.
“It looks as though it snuck through without anybody seeing it,” said Norwich resident Dr. Glenn Stein, a NYRI opponent. “It shows that somebody on the other side of this issue is looking at this as well.”
The amendment, introduced by Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota) after the clean energy bill was voted on, furthers the DOE’s authority under the 2005 Energy Policy Act to designate places like Chenango County – an area that doesn’t suffer from energy congestion like downstate, but could act as a conduit to far-off power sources – as a part of a corridor.
A preliminary NIETC, announced in May, covers 11 states in the East and West, including most of New York state and all of <a href="http://www.evesun.com/topics/news/NYRI/">NYRI</a>’s 190-mile long power line route.
Stein believes Thune’s pro-corridor post script justifies the DOE’s draft NIETC borders, which he says extend well beyond their intended scope.
“If we had a legal challenge the corridors as they are proposed,” Stein said, “this makes that argument completely moot.”
The amendment was adopted into what’s known as a Manager’s Bill, a provision that can’t be voted on until the legislation goes to a joint House-Senate conference, a spokesman for Senator Charles Schumer said.
Schumer, along with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, voted in-favor of the clean energy act. Representative Michael Arcuri (D-Utica), voted “yea” for a much smaller House version of the bill.
Schumer, who has introduced legislation that would scale-back the federal authority over state power line siting, doesn’t believe the amendment strengthens or weakens either side of the power line issue, his staffer said.
“The language in this bill in no way addressed the issue of states ceding control over the siting of transmission projects in their state to FERC,” spokesman Alex Detrick said, “an issue of great concern to Senator Schumer, that he addresses head-on in his proposed legislation.”
