Staying on the line

The latest developments on the NYRI power line

· Joe Bruno, majority leader of the New York Senate, pledged on Thursday, August 3, to allocate $1 million of taxpayer’s money to fight the proposed power lines that would traverse eight counties. The funds will pay for lawyers and expert witnesses to oppose NYRI and their proposed power lines. The lawyers and experts will be needed as the permitting process moves through the New York Public Service Commission (PSC), which recently put NYRI’s application on hold while awaiting further information from the company.

The $1 million may also be used to counter efforts at the federal level to have the power line’s proposed path declared a National Interest Electricity Corridor (NIETC) by the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C.

· Senator John Bonacic and his challenger in the next election, Susan Zimet, released opposing press releases last week regarding the best way to resist the NYRI plan. In a reference to Zimet’s proposal to place a power line along the New York State Thruway, Bonacic said that would simply move the problem from one set of counties to another. He said instead that the plan should be killed outright.

Zimet responded, saying that lawmakers must suggest an alternate route, otherwise “Washington can do whatever it wants, regardless of what is in the best interest of the residents here.”

Bonacic has said in the past he would solve the electricity demand issue with the development of new plants in the area where the demand is greatest: New York City and the surrounding counties.