Bloomburg has no position on power line

New York City mayor is seeking more information

By FRITZ MAYER

NEW YORK STATE — When it comes to the proposed 180-mile power line through upstate counties, New York City mayor Michael Bloomburg is reserving judgment, for now.

Janel Patterson, a spokesperson for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, said, in general, the mayor supports investment and expansion of the state’s energy infrastructure to guarantee stable prices and supply of electricity, but he has not yet developed a position on the New York Regional Interconnect (NYRI) project. Bloomberg has, however, applied for party status in the state-permitting process with the New York Public Service Commission (PSC.)

Last week, Bloomberg urged Governor George Pataki not to sign a bill, championed by Senator John Bonacic, that would strip NYRI of the right to use eminent domain in gaining a route for the power line project. Patterson said Bloomberg did that because the legislation short circuits the process through which the PSC determines if the project serves the public good. Also, Bloomberg is quoted in various news accounts as saying the legislation would discourage investment in future energy projects.

Peter Constantakes, a Pataki spokesman, said the governor has not yet received the legislation from the senate, and has not reviewed it, or decided whether he would sign it. Constantakes said a bill typically goes from the senate to the governor within 45 days, and the governor then has 10 days to act on it.

The river route’s not dead yet

Though NYRI executives said the route along the Upper Delaware River is not the preferred route, it is still on the table. NYRI president Richard Muddiman wrote Senator Charles Schumer last week that the company’s alternative plan included buried lines along 72 miles of the river corridor along the lines, which are leased by Central New York Railroad from the Norfolk Southern company and on which New York Susquehanna & Western (NYS&W) also operates rail service. Muddiman wrote that this would raise project costs by $994 million over the route that parallels the Millennium Pipeline. That is why, in part, the river route is not the preferred route.

A lawsuit is filed

The plan to use rail routes at the origin of the line near Utica is coming under fire.

Utica mayor Timothy J. Julian filed a lawsuit last week in New York State Supreme Court against NYS&W for what Julian said is an unauthorized contract with NYRI.

According to the Utica Observer-Dispatch, much of the land for the original railroad was acquired through eminent domain, which means the land cannot be used for any purpose except a railroad. Additionally, the paper reports NYS&W deeded the railroad land to the Oneida County Industrial Development Agency in 1982. The suit contends that NYS&W had no right to sell transmission rights to NYRI.