Neighbors still fight power line plan
Some local landowners will continue to fight a proposed transmission line from the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm to a grid connection in the town of Mexico.
Upstate NY Power Corp. filed an application for the proposed line with the state's Public Service Commission on Jan. 13. The preferred route stretches 50.6 miles and is estimated to cost $153 million.
But landowners who see the line running through their property in Ellisburg are organizing to fight the proposal.
"This is our land," Sharon B. Rossiter said. "It doesn't seem like a private company should be able to run through our property for their personal gain."
She and her husband, Daniel L., are among a series of five landowners in a row in Ellisburg who do not want the line running across their farmland. The landowners will seek party status in the PSC proceedings, so they are a part of all hearings and discussions.
"We will be suggesting an alternate route," said Edmund M. Davis, one of the landowners. "We think there are other routes with less opposition. They've chosen this route because it's the easiest one for them. ... The farmers have already cleared the path for them."
Mr. Davis said the transmission line would run very close to his house. But he would not oppose the line if the developer ran it underground. The application rebuffed that idea by saying it would cost $6 million per mile to lay the line underground.
Albert M. Gehrke, a neighboring landowner, said, "We're certainly hoping we can get them to see the viability of another route. There are some landowners who wouldn't object."
These landowners are near the abandoned Woodville electric line, which the proposed path uses for 9.2 miles. The easement for that line was 50 feet and will have to be expanded to 150 feet. About 19.6 miles of the line uses or parallels old utility or railroad rights of way. An additional 19.4 miles on the mainland would require new rights of way.
The application describes a preferred route and several alternatives. The preferred route runs 9 miles underwater from Galloo Island to a landfall off Hovey Tract Road in the town of Henderson on property owned by ELL Roch Enterprises Inc., Nazareth, Pa. The route would run southeast near Henderson Bay, then south and east of Belleville.
It also will run through the towns of Sandy Creek and Richland and the village of Pulaski before reaching a 345-kilovolt line that is part of the regional power grid in the town of Mexico.
The application ruled out a route that runs completely underwater because it would cost more than $185 million. It also ruled out shorter lines to closer electric substations because the substations could not handle the additional power from the wind farm, which would have a maximum generation potential of about 270 megawatts.
It also ruled out other paths through the towns in an effort to avoid state lands, wetlands and population centers.
Along the proposed route, the transmission line would require about 386 poles with 20-square-foot foundations. They will rise 90 to 105 feet high in most places, but a few will be 150 feet tall.
The application touts the advantages of Galloo Island Wind Farm and the transmission line, including added tax revenues, about $1.5 million in easement payments and environmentally friendly energy.
Initially the transmission line will be a single-circuit 230-kilovolt line, but a second circuit could be added later. That would require another Article VII application and upgrade of a substation in Mexico.
The application said, "This will provide the availability of an additional transmission facility in the future which could support the development of additional wind power or other generation projects generally to the north of the Henderson/
Hounsfield area without the need to identify and develop an additional ROW corridor."
The application asks for a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need from the commission, which would authorize construction and operation of the line. The application also requests a water quality certificate from the commission and a waiver of local zoning and land-use regulations.
The commission's Article VII Process Guide said the commission's secretary takes about a month to determine whether the application is complete. That would be followed by public statement and evidentiary hearings with an administrative law judge. The first formal hearing will be two to three months after the applicant's filing date.
Copies of the application are available on the Upstate NY Power Web site and at Henderson Free Library, 8949 Route 178, Henderson; Hay Memorial Library, 105 S. Broad St., Sackets Harbor; East Hounsfield Library, 19438 Route 3, Watertown; Ellisburg Free Library, 12115 Route 193, Ellisburg; Annie Porter Ainsworth Memorial Library, 6064 S. Main St., Sandy Creek; Pulaski Public Library, 4917 N. Jefferson St., Pulaski, and Mexico Public Library, 3269 Main St., Mexico.
