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Transmission plan on hold as opposition grows
Jan 26, 2014 12:03 am
Many Hudson Valley communities are faced with the expansion of high-power transmission lines.
Local coverage:
• Click here to hear Will Yanik and Ian Solomon from Farmers and Families for Claverack and Livingston interviewed by Tom DiPietro on "WGXC Afternoon Show" Thu., Jan. 23. PLAY AUDIO (28:53)
• "A plan for ‘monster’ power lines is put on hold in Capital" New York.
• "Power line expansion opposition groups form coalition" in the Register Star.
• "Controversial plan to run power lines, possibly needing residents' properties, now faces delay" in Poughkeepsie Journal.
• "State deadline for power line comments extended indefinitely" in The Daily Freeman.
• New York Public Service Commission documents.
Scott Waldman at Capital New York reports that the state has indefinitely extended a Feb. 21 deadline for comments on a $600 million plan for a major upgrade to transmission lines from upstate through the Hudson Valley to provide more electricity for New York City. Governor Andrew Cuomo calls the proposals the blueprint for the "New York State Energy Highway. Sen. Terry Gipson of Poughkeepsie and others prefer a costlier option of burying the infrastructure improvement. “It's definitely a victory, it's certainly not complete,” he told Waldman. “They're looking more seriously at putting this underground.” Gipson is also advocating the lines follow existing routes. Currently, some of the proposed power lines would expand the existing footprint by up to 160 feet, and eminent domain and aesthetic conerns, along with environmental issues, are causing community groups in towns throughout the Hudson Valley to form in opposition to the expansion of the transmission lines. In Churchtown Sat., Jan. 25,
Farmers and Families for Claverack and Livingston, a group opposed to the project in its present form, hosted a meeting with many local officials, including State Senator Kathleen Marchione and Assemblywoman Didi Barrett. Throughout the Hudson Valley, more groups such as this are forming to address the issue. This Thursday, Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at Clinton Town Hall at 1215 Centre Road is the next community forum on the issue. Adam Clayton in the Register-Star reports that locally, the Columbia County Board of Supervisors and the towns of Claverack, Stuyvesant, Stockport, and Livingston have all passed resolutions against the current plans for upgrades in Columbia County. The line also passes through parts of Greene, Albany, and Dutchess counties, and crosses the Hudson River locally. Pam Kline, who is the head of Farmers and Families for Livingston, says the local groups have more power banding together, and have formed a coalition with Scenic Hudson, the town of Clinton, Clinton Concerned Citizens, Dutchess County, Dutchess Land Conservancy, the town of Milan, the Olana Partnership, Omega Institute, the Preservation League of New York State, the town of Pleasant Valley and Winnakee Land Trust, and others. “The PSC has not to-date – either in its Energy Highway Blueprint or in any public setting – articulated a convincing need for the new transmission capacity based on the most current data about electricity supply and demand. The potential for energy conservation, demand-side management, local green power generation and distributed generation to reduce the need for new transmission lines has not been examined,” the group wrote in a letter to local and state officials.
Recent stories about this issue:
• Click here to hear Will Yanik and Ian Solomon from Farmers and Families for Claverack and Livingston interviewed by Tom DiPietro on "WGXC Afternoon Show" Thu., Jan. 23. PLAY AUDIO (28:53)
• "A plan for ‘monster’ power lines is put on hold in Capital" New York.
• "Power line expansion opposition groups form coalition" in the Register Star.
• "Controversial plan to run power lines, possibly needing residents' properties, now faces delay" in Poughkeepsie Journal.
• New York Public Service Commission documents.
Local coverage:
• Click here to hear Will Yanik and Ian Solomon from Farmers and Families for Claverack and Livingston interviewed by Tom DiPietro on "WGXC Afternoon Show" Thu., Jan. 23. PLAY AUDIO (28:53)
• "A plan for ‘monster’ power lines is put on hold in Capital" New York.
• "Power line expansion opposition groups form coalition" in the Register Star.
• "Controversial plan to run power lines, possibly needing residents' properties, now faces delay" in Poughkeepsie Journal.
• "State deadline for power line comments extended indefinitely" in The Daily Freeman.
• New York Public Service Commission documents.
Scott Waldman at Capital New York reports that the state has indefinitely extended a Feb. 21 deadline for comments on a $600 million plan for a major upgrade to transmission lines from upstate through the Hudson Valley to provide more electricity for New York City. Governor Andrew Cuomo calls the proposals the blueprint for the "New York State Energy Highway. Sen. Terry Gipson of Poughkeepsie and others prefer a costlier option of burying the infrastructure improvement. “It's definitely a victory, it's certainly not complete,” he told Waldman. “They're looking more seriously at putting this underground.” Gipson is also advocating the lines follow existing routes. Currently, some of the proposed power lines would expand the existing footprint by up to 160 feet, and eminent domain and aesthetic conerns, along with environmental issues, are causing community groups in towns throughout the Hudson Valley to form in opposition to the expansion of the transmission lines. In Churchtown Sat., Jan. 25,
Farmers and Families for Claverack and Livingston, a group opposed to the project in its present form, hosted a meeting with many local officials, including State Senator Kathleen Marchione and Assemblywoman Didi Barrett. Throughout the Hudson Valley, more groups such as this are forming to address the issue. This Thursday, Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at Clinton Town Hall at 1215 Centre Road is the next community forum on the issue. Adam Clayton in the Register-Star reports that locally, the Columbia County Board of Supervisors and the towns of Claverack, Stuyvesant, Stockport, and Livingston have all passed resolutions against the current plans for upgrades in Columbia County. The line also passes through parts of Greene, Albany, and Dutchess counties, and crosses the Hudson River locally. Pam Kline, who is the head of Farmers and Families for Livingston, says the local groups have more power banding together, and have formed a coalition with Scenic Hudson, the town of Clinton, Clinton Concerned Citizens, Dutchess County, Dutchess Land Conservancy, the town of Milan, the Olana Partnership, Omega Institute, the Preservation League of New York State, the town of Pleasant Valley and Winnakee Land Trust, and others. “The PSC has not to-date – either in its Energy Highway Blueprint or in any public setting – articulated a convincing need for the new transmission capacity based on the most current data about electricity supply and demand. The potential for energy conservation, demand-side management, local green power generation and distributed generation to reduce the need for new transmission lines has not been examined,” the group wrote in a letter to local and state officials.Recent stories about this issue:
• Click here to hear Will Yanik and Ian Solomon from Farmers and Families for Claverack and Livingston interviewed by Tom DiPietro on "WGXC Afternoon Show" Thu., Jan. 23. PLAY AUDIO (28:53)
• "A plan for ‘monster’ power lines is put on hold in Capital" New York.
• "Power line expansion opposition groups form coalition" in the Register Star.
• "Controversial plan to run power lines, possibly needing residents' properties, now faces delay" in Poughkeepsie Journal.
• New York Public Service Commission documents.