Diane Valden reports in the Columbia Paper that the 60-megawatt solar project Hecate Energy proposes to build near State Route 23 and County Route 7 in Craryville is an old project. The new version Hecate calls “Shepherd’s Run” is enlarged, and big enough that it will not get local oversight. Instead, the company plans to get state approval, through Article 10 of the State Public Service Law that gets renewable energy projects a quick lane to approval. So Hecate Project Developer Alex Campbell says, “we expect to have commercial operations in the third quarter of 2022. There is a 12-month Article 10 application process included within this timeline.” Campbell says the project is so large it will power 60 percent of Columbia County’s 25,000 households. The proposed project is on a section of the 900-acre Rasweiler Farm. “Since the project would be greater than 25 megawatts, Hecate has told the Town that they will proceed under the New York State Department of Public Service Article 10 approval process. This means that the project is reviewed by a seven-member “Siting Board,” which would include various New York State commissioners as well as two representatives of the local community, and may make it exempt from the Copake Zoning Code," Copake Supervisor Jeanne Mettler said. Hecate representatives say they will make public presentations about the proposal this in a few weeks. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.