WASHINGTON – Another bill aimed at weakening Washington’s influence in the fate of New York Regional Interconnect’s power line was introduced Tuesday in the Senate by Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, according to a joint press release from the two New York Democrats.
Schumer and Clinton’s anti-<a href="http://www.evesun.com/topics/news/NYRI/">NYRI</a> legislation, the first of its kind to be born in the Senate, would up-end several provisions in the 2005 Energy Policy Act that give the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unprecedented authority to override a state’s existing power line review process.
Norwich resident Betsy Mahannah says she’s appreciative of the anti-NYRI support in Washington and Albany, but says it’s a fundamental flaw in the democratic process these bills even have to exist.
“What do they (legislation) buy us, a year, two years? I want to buy a lifetime as a citizen in a democracy,” said Mahannah, who would lose her home if the power line were built. “There is still no input on the NYRI issue from the people who pay the taxes and who own the property. It should be the people who have a say. Where’s my democratic right to say ‘I don’t want a power line to run over my property?’ NYRI, a foreign-owned company, coming into the U.S. and using U.S. government powers of eminent domain to evict me, a U.S. citizen, from my home doesn’t feel right.”
Village of Sherburne Mayor William Acee is also skeptical of the legislation.
“All this legislation seems like smoke and mirrors to me. It just further politicizes an already politicized process,” Acee said. “This power line is bad for our village and until the powerlines are prohibited from passing overhead in our village, I will remain sceptical - period.”
If passed into law, Schumer says the bill will curb federal involvement in the issue. NYRI could still be approved on the state level.
“It’s crystal clear that the current legal arrangement is inherently flawed, leaving the state on the sidelines when it comes to determining where NYRI’s proposed route will run and how it will affect local communities,” stated Schumer in the press release. “This legislation is designed to scale back federal laws that supersede New York State’s right to influence proposed line routes in its own backyard, and it strips private companies of their right to build power lines along any path and through any community and pristine park, wherever they want and however they want.”
NYRI, a Canadian-backed company, is proposing to build a high voltage, direct current power line with 115 foot steel towers from Utica to Orange County that would deliver upstate electricity to energy-constrained areas in Metropolitan New York. If approved, the line could use eminent domain to condemn homes and businesses along its 190-mile-long route that cuts through 44 miles of Chenango County. Currently, NYRI is unable to use state eminent domain, according to a recently passed state law the energy developer is challenging in state Supreme Court.
NYRI officials were unavailable for comment Wednesday morning.
“This bill will ensure that NYRI cannot make an end run around the state’s rigorous review and siting process,” Clinton stated. “The project has the potential to impact so many New York communities along the proposed route, and their serious concerns should not be ignored or overridden.”
