CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

Bath, N.Y.

A local law is now in place allowing Steuben County to lease portions of its landfill for an electric generation plant.

County legislators unanimously approved the lease, which does not specify the agency expected to take over the plant at the landfill along Turnpike Road.

There is a mandatory 45-day “cooling off” period before the law takes effect.
However, county officials will continue their negotiations May 9 with Steuben Rural Electric Cooperative, of Bath, to build a $6 million facility at the landfill.

The cooperative was selected from a field of eight utilities in early March.

So far, the co-op and county are expected to share revenues with the utility receiving about $1.5 million and the county $650,000 annually. The plant would use methane gases produced by the landfill to generate power.

Customers of the co-op, which services parts of rural of the county, could see their bills drop $60 a year, or about the cost of a monthly electric bill, according to initial estimates.

County Public Works Commissioner Vincent Spagnoletti said county officials don’t anticipate any major changes in the final agreement.

The county’s application for the plant is due May 24, he said.

In other action, legislators:

• Approved the use of federal and state funding for the replacement of the U.S. Highway 15 bridge over Cowanesque River in the town of Lindley.

• Approved the use of $10,500 in reserve funds for the Bath Courthouse exterior painting capital project.

• Requested the governor and state Legislature to increase funding for firefighter training to insure the delivery of fire service protection.

CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE
PO Box 638 Naples, NY 14512 (585) 534-5581
Washington, DC (202) 239-1045
Email: citizenpoweralliance@gmail.com

May 1, 2008

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer
313 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Schumer,

The Citizen Power Alliance takes issue with your remarks about the PSC review on the Iberdrola acquisition of Energy East as reported in the D&C Schumer rips PSC staff on Iberdrola and in the Times Union Senator slams PSC in deal.

The Citizen Power Alliance is a coalition of independent groups organized to promote sound energy and environmental policy. CPA holds public officials and regulators accountable, while seeking the protection of the public interest.

Eco preservation demands fiscal responsibility and viable technological solutions. Community power requires government transparency and effective industrial regulation. Commerce must balance development and profit with responsible civic stewardship.

Several of our member groups vigorous oppose the foreign take over of a crucial domestic electric energy infrastructure. When the electric industry was deregulated the Public Service Commission was told by the NYS Legislature that a total separation between electric generation and transmission distribution was the law. Your harmful interference into the review process has not gone unnoticed to the numerous residents and voters who will bear the costs of this dreadful sell out of national interests.

Iberdrola has been cited for Anti-trust violation by the EU. They seek to control most of the industrial wind projects in New York State. It is eminently clear from the PSC evidentiary hearing that Judge Epstein is acting properly in his duty. Please review our testimony at the Rochester PSC hearing 2/21/08 pages 98 – 103:
PSC Link CWW Link

The Citizen Power Alliance urges you in the strongest terms to abandon your ill-conceived conclusions that favor the Energy East acquisition. If you would like to discuss the merits of effective alternative energy for New York State, our alliance would be pleased to meet with you and your staff.

Your prompt reply would be appreciated by all our member groups.

Cordially,


James Hall for CPA
cc: Judge Epstein and NYS PSC

Blog: http://citizenpoweralliance.org/
Web Site: http://citizenpoweralliance.com/

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer urged the staff of the New York Public Service Commission to back off its demand that Iberdrola SA sell its wind-energy assets and forgo developing any new wind power in the state as a condition of buying Energy East Corp.

The New York Democrat said the PSC is being "stone-headed" in the conditions it has set and would prevent upstate from benefiting from more wind power.

Iberdrola, a Spanish company that is the world's leading producer of wind energy, has said it might pull out of the proposed $4.5 billion purchase of Energy East over the issue.

Energy East is the parent company of both Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. and New York State Electric and Gas Corp.

Iberdrola has a 50 percent stake in the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County, the largest wind farm in the state. It also has promised to invest at least $100 million in wind power throughout upstate if the buyout of Energy East is approved.

The state currently generates only about 1 percent of its electricity from wind. The state government has set an ambitious goal of getting 25 percent of power through renewable sources by 2013 and needs more wind power to achieve that, Schumer said.

"The Public Service Commission could make this a real benefit for New York, and instead they're turning this into a fiasco," Schumer said in a conference call with reporters. "We're urging them to quickly turn this around."

PSC spokesman James Denn said that the Iberdrola deal has not yet come before the full commission and that negotiations between the company and the commission's staff are continuing. The recommendation that Iberdrola be required to give up its interests in wind generation facilities was part of a 41-page staff brief issued Friday.

Denn said the staff is trying to make sure Iberdrola doesn't monopolize the wind energy market in New York. The PSC staff has argued that if the utility is allowed to retain its wind generation capabilities, it will engage in anti-competitive practices.

"If a company can control both the generation and the distribution of electricity, they have an opportunity to exert a greater influence on the market than you might want them to," Denn said.

But Schumer said there is no evidence that this would happen, and if it does, it is up to the PSC to stop it. He said it also doesn't make sense to require a company to divest 100 percent of its wind energy assets.

Every other state where Energy East owns assets, including Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut, has approved the buyout by Iberdrola, which was announced 10 months ago. Iberdrola's chairman, Ignacio Sanchez Galan, suggested recently that his company might abandon the deal and seek another U.S. acquisition because of the PSC's demands.

Schumer noted that the state Consumer Protection Board has called the PSC staff's position "unreasonable." Also, groups ranging from the Natural Resources Defense Council to Greater Rochester Enterprise have argued that Iberdrola should be allowed to stay in the wind business because of the significant economic development boost it could bring to the state.

"It's outrageous that the PSC is working against the very interests of its own state," Schumer said.

EKELLY@GNS.Gannett.com

America's love affair with corn-based ethanol is cooling – at least in Washington.

Some legislators blame the rising use of corn as a biofuel as a key factor behind high food prices. Others want to freeze the federal mandate on biofuels production at current levels, reversing legislation passed just a few months ago that increases it through 2022. Still others are pushing to shift tax incentives away from corn-based to cellulose-based ethanol in the nearly completed farm bill.

These moves represent a dramatic backlash against corn ethanol, which until a few months ago was widely viewed as a boon for both farmers and consumers. Many experts worry that Washington's new skepticism will undo important progress the US has made in replacing foreign oil with domestic energy alternatives. But others say that done right, a shift toward cellulose – nonfood plant material like grasses and crop residues – could reduce US reliance on imported oil just as well as corn does. And it would accomplish it with fewer food and environmental trade-offs.

(Click to read the entire article)

Letter to the Editor:

In all the discussion on energy, and the mystique of the alternatives like wind, solar and biofuels, we are losing sight of what works, and what is just a pipe dream. While almost every alternative energy source has its niche and contribution, they will not add much to our energy mix.

Wind already sees opposition over locations, and while we say we have installed more than 425 megawatts of capacity in New York state, we really get much less than 50 percent of that because of variable winds and other factors. One nuclear plant is typically more than double that capacity, and in recent years plants in the U.S. produce power at a rate of about 90 percent of capacity.

It is time to get real about energy, including nuclear, which makes such an important contribution.

JOHN CORELLI Albany jcorel@rpi.edu

(Click to read transcript of Press Conference)

ALBANY -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer criticized the state Public Service Commission on Wednesday for requiring Spanish utility Iberdrola SA to sell its New York state wind farms before they'll allow it to acquire Energy East Corp.

"This is one of the most amazing things that I've seen," Schumer said. "The PSC is being very stone-headed and not being very practical."

Iberdrola is the world's largest wind farm developer. The company has maintained that developing wind projects in New York state is a key aspect of its $4.5 billion deal for Energy East, the parent company of New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric.

The purchase needs the approval of the five commissioners of the PSC, the state body that oversees utilities.

But PSC staff, who provide recommendations to the commissioners, want Iberdrola to agree to a number of conditions as part of their approval.

(Click to read entire article)

Broadwater Energy is appealing New York State's rejection of its plan to build a floating liquefied natural gas terminal in Long Island Sound, the company announced Monday.

Broadwater, a joint venture of Shell Oil and Trans-Canada Pipelines, will ask the U.S. secretary of commerce to override the N.Y. state department's April 10 ruling that the proposed terminal is inconsistent with the state's coastal zone management plan, Broadwater's senior vice president John Hritcko Jr. said in an interview Tuesday.

The joint venture has taken the first step in the appeal process by asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to prepare a consolidated record for the appeal, Mr. Hritcko said. He said he expects Broadwater's attorneys to file the appeal within the 30-day time limit provided by law.

(Click to read entire article)

ALBANY – Republicans in the State Senate led by Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and in the Assembly, led by James Tedisco, Wednesday both called for a sales tax holiday during the summer months as a means of taking a little of the financial pinch off motorists who are rapidly facing $4 for a gallon of gasoline.

It is a given the proposal will make it through the Senate, which is controlled by the GOP; however, Republicans in the Assembly are in a vast minority. The proposal is dead in the water as Democrat Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has nixed it, blaming the Bush administration to refusing to take any action “to rein in huge oil company profits” and for its failure to put in place “an effective energy policy.”

Silver said the gas tax is already capped at the $2 per gallon level, so the rising cost of gas does not result in greater revenues for the state. To cut the tax during the summer would result in a $500 million shortfall in revenues that are dedicated to road and bridge construction across the state. Democrat Kingston Assemblyman Kevin Cahill supports that line of reasoning.

The Republican plans would see some 30 cents per gallon shaved off the pump price from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

WASHINGTON - With questions surrounding Iberdrola’s bid to takeover Energy East – parent company of Rochester Gas and Electric and New York State Electric and Gas, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer Wednesday called for the New York State Public Service Commission to ease stringent demands it has placed on the energy company as a condition for approving the merger.

Currently, the PSC is insisting that Iberdrola give up all its wind power assets across the state and pledge not to develop any wind power in the future. Schumer today argued that this condition runs counter to the state’s goals of developing a robust renewable energy portfolio and could sacrifice economic development opportunities around the State. He urged the PSC to concentrate its negotiations with the utility on issues surrounding customer rates, system reliability and the overall health of the company.

As part of the regulatory approval process, the PSC has also urged that the company sell off Russell Station, a coal- burning Rochester area plant. However, the prospect of a new Russell Station owner raises many questions – including what impact it could have on customer electric rates. Energy East recently agreed to accept divestiture of Russell Station, but Schumer called on the PSC to jettison that condition. With Rochester customers paying some of the lowest utility rates in the state, Schumer insisted that the PSC and Iberdrola must more thoroughly analyze the impact that selling the 300+ MW facility would have on ratepayers. Russell Station supplies 25 percent of Rochester's power.