Billsman
January 16th, 2006, 11:36:26 AM
Big Apple wants bite of area's cheap power
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Downstate interests, looking to reduce rates, say Niagara facility should serve entire state
By JERRY ZREMSKI
News Washington Bureau
1/16/2006
WASHINGTON-New York City and Westchester County are demanding a far bigger share of the Niagara Power Project's cheap power as part of the relicensing of the vast hydropower facility.
In documents filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, New York and its big northern suburb said they're primarily pursuing the power that currently goes to reduce residential electric bills in upstate New York.
The downstate interests argue that the giant hydropower facility which produces 10 percent of the state's electricity doesn't distribute its power fairly.
"Customers located in the New York City metropolitan area have been effectively denied any significant portion, not to say an equitable portion, of this important state resource," the city said in its filing.
Sources involved in the relicensing said they seriously doubt that federal regulators will side with New York City and Westchester County because such power-allocation issues generally aren't part of the relicensing process.
Instead, hydropower experts view the filing as the first volley in a downstate attempt to get the State Legislature to shift more cheap power out of upstate New York.
"These are political ploys by New York City and Westchester County that are meaningless in terms of the law," said Rep. Brian M. Higgins, D-Buffalo.
At issue in that coming political fight will be a chunk of cheap hydropower that's used to reduce residential electric bills for about 2.5 million customers of National Grid, New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric. National Grid, formerly Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., has said that money reduces the typical residential power bill by $2 to $2.50 a month.
The power that the downstate interests are trying to acquire was bound to eventually come into play. With the contract allocating that electricity about to expire, hydropower experts in Western New York have been considering that power, thinking it may be spread too thin when it's used to reduce residential utility bills by a couple of dollars a month.
"I think we have to determine if there is a higher and better use for that power," Higgins said.
Mark Zito, former executive director of the Niagara Power Coalition, agreed.
"This is going to become an issue when Chambers of Commerce across the state start to say that this is a waste of good cheap power that could be going to help small business and put people to work," said Zito, who was behind the relicensing settlement that seven Niagara County governments struck with the Power Authority.
Nevertheless, two of the three utilities that now get that cheap power NYSEG and Rochester Gas & Electric are asking federal regulators to protect their allocations.
They said their residential electric rates could increase more than 14 percent if the cheap power goes to other uses.
In its "intervention" with federal regulators, Buffalo's electric utility, National Grid, did not mention the cheap power that reduces residential rates. But Dennis Elsenbeck, the utility's vice president for business services in Western New York, said National Grid agrees the power in question should continue to be used to reduce upstate residential bills.
"Looking at the downstate economy and the upstate economy, it appears to me that upstate has a greater need for this support at this time," Elsenbeck said.
The Niagara hydro plant currently provides 301 megawatts of cheap power to those utilities to reduce residential bills. The New York State Power Authority's St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project provides another 252 megawatts.
That electricity enough to power 553,000 homes goes to those utilities under a contract that's set to expire Aug. 31, 2007. That's also the expiration date for the Power Authority's 50-year license to operate the Niagara Power Project.
In filings with the federal regulators, New York and its big northern suburb say those two issues should be dealt with together. Moreover, they say the Niagara Power Project is a state-owned facility that should aid the entire state, not just the western and central portions of it.
"The benefits of low-cost hydroelectric power from the project should be allocated equitably among all of the users within New York State, including those located in New York City," the city said in its filing.
New York is pressing for some of Niagara's cheap juice because it has the highest electric rates in the country.
For the year ending last June 30, residential electric rates averaged 19.3 cents per kilowatt-hour in New York City, the Edison Electric Institute reported.
In contrast, Buffalo's residential rates averaged 12.6 cents per kilowatt-hour.
In arguing for a greater share of Niagara's power, New York City cites the state's Public Authorities Law, which provides that hydropower from the Niagara and St. Lawrence projects "shall be primarily for the benefit of the state as a whole and particularly the domestic and rural customers to whom the power can economically be made available."
In response, the Power Authority argues that it has allocated that power to the upstate utilities in accordance with federal and state laws governing the power project, noting that the power now goes to "domestic and rural customers."
In addition, "issues of specific allocations of project power to individual customers are outside the scope of the relicensing process," said Brian Vattimo, the Power Authority's senior vice president for public and governmental affairs.
Vattimo, of the Power Authority, said the agency expects the governor and State Legislature to take up the power issue this year.
And State Sen. Dale Volker, R-Depew, said upstate lawmakers will fight to prevent downstate interests from claiming that power.
"They've made this claim before," Volker said. "There's really no basis for it."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Downstate interests, looking to reduce rates, say Niagara facility should serve entire state
By JERRY ZREMSKI
News Washington Bureau
1/16/2006
WASHINGTON-New York City and Westchester County are demanding a far bigger share of the Niagara Power Project's cheap power as part of the relicensing of the vast hydropower facility.
In documents filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, New York and its big northern suburb said they're primarily pursuing the power that currently goes to reduce residential electric bills in upstate New York.
The downstate interests argue that the giant hydropower facility which produces 10 percent of the state's electricity doesn't distribute its power fairly.
"Customers located in the New York City metropolitan area have been effectively denied any significant portion, not to say an equitable portion, of this important state resource," the city said in its filing.
Sources involved in the relicensing said they seriously doubt that federal regulators will side with New York City and Westchester County because such power-allocation issues generally aren't part of the relicensing process.
Instead, hydropower experts view the filing as the first volley in a downstate attempt to get the State Legislature to shift more cheap power out of upstate New York.
"These are political ploys by New York City and Westchester County that are meaningless in terms of the law," said Rep. Brian M. Higgins, D-Buffalo.
At issue in that coming political fight will be a chunk of cheap hydropower that's used to reduce residential electric bills for about 2.5 million customers of National Grid, New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric. National Grid, formerly Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., has said that money reduces the typical residential power bill by $2 to $2.50 a month.
The power that the downstate interests are trying to acquire was bound to eventually come into play. With the contract allocating that electricity about to expire, hydropower experts in Western New York have been considering that power, thinking it may be spread too thin when it's used to reduce residential utility bills by a couple of dollars a month.
"I think we have to determine if there is a higher and better use for that power," Higgins said.
Mark Zito, former executive director of the Niagara Power Coalition, agreed.
"This is going to become an issue when Chambers of Commerce across the state start to say that this is a waste of good cheap power that could be going to help small business and put people to work," said Zito, who was behind the relicensing settlement that seven Niagara County governments struck with the Power Authority.
Nevertheless, two of the three utilities that now get that cheap power NYSEG and Rochester Gas & Electric are asking federal regulators to protect their allocations.
They said their residential electric rates could increase more than 14 percent if the cheap power goes to other uses.
In its "intervention" with federal regulators, Buffalo's electric utility, National Grid, did not mention the cheap power that reduces residential rates. But Dennis Elsenbeck, the utility's vice president for business services in Western New York, said National Grid agrees the power in question should continue to be used to reduce upstate residential bills.
"Looking at the downstate economy and the upstate economy, it appears to me that upstate has a greater need for this support at this time," Elsenbeck said.
The Niagara hydro plant currently provides 301 megawatts of cheap power to those utilities to reduce residential bills. The New York State Power Authority's St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project provides another 252 megawatts.
That electricity enough to power 553,000 homes goes to those utilities under a contract that's set to expire Aug. 31, 2007. That's also the expiration date for the Power Authority's 50-year license to operate the Niagara Power Project.
In filings with the federal regulators, New York and its big northern suburb say those two issues should be dealt with together. Moreover, they say the Niagara Power Project is a state-owned facility that should aid the entire state, not just the western and central portions of it.
"The benefits of low-cost hydroelectric power from the project should be allocated equitably among all of the users within New York State, including those located in New York City," the city said in its filing.
New York is pressing for some of Niagara's cheap juice because it has the highest electric rates in the country.
For the year ending last June 30, residential electric rates averaged 19.3 cents per kilowatt-hour in New York City, the Edison Electric Institute reported.
In contrast, Buffalo's residential rates averaged 12.6 cents per kilowatt-hour.
In arguing for a greater share of Niagara's power, New York City cites the state's Public Authorities Law, which provides that hydropower from the Niagara and St. Lawrence projects "shall be primarily for the benefit of the state as a whole and particularly the domestic and rural customers to whom the power can economically be made available."
In response, the Power Authority argues that it has allocated that power to the upstate utilities in accordance with federal and state laws governing the power project, noting that the power now goes to "domestic and rural customers."
In addition, "issues of specific allocations of project power to individual customers are outside the scope of the relicensing process," said Brian Vattimo, the Power Authority's senior vice president for public and governmental affairs.
Vattimo, of the Power Authority, said the agency expects the governor and State Legislature to take up the power issue this year.
And State Sen. Dale Volker, R-Depew, said upstate lawmakers will fight to prevent downstate interests from claiming that power.
"They've made this claim before," Volker said. "There's really no basis for it."