Sunday, July 31, 2016

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Galloo Industrial wind Comments RE: Preliminary Scoping Statement and Apex's Response


Legislature v. IDA is no contest

The ongoing tension between members of the Jefferson County Legislature and the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency appears to be heading for an explosion, if the IDA’s proposed changes to its Uniform Tax Exemption Policy are enacted as now proposed.Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times


Friday, July 29, 2016


JCIDA Board Chair: UTEP changes will not undermine county policy


WATERTOWN — Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency Board Chairman David J. Converse said changes to its Uniform Tax Exemption Policy would not fly in the face of the county’s new tax abatement rule for large alternative energy projects.

Judges grant Hounsfield and Sackets Harbor intervenor funding for Galloo Island Wind project


Photo taken by Gunther Schaller
HOUNSFIELD — Administrative law judges from the state Department of Public Service and Department of Environmental Conservation awarded the town of Hounsfield and the village of Sackets Harbor $5,000 each in intervenor funding during an Article 10 pre-application hearing for Apex Clean Energy’s Galloo Island Wind project on Thursday at the Town Hall.
Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times

Wednesday, July 27, 2016


Apex holds hearing on Galloo Island Wind Farm in Hounsfield


PUBLISHED in the Watertown Daily Times ~ WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016 AT 3:16 PM


HOUNSFIELD — Apex Clean Energy will host an Article 10 review process pre-hearing for the Galloo Island Wind Farm project at 10:30 a.m prior to filing a formal application Thursday at the town hall, 18774 County Route 66.
Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Horse Creek wind farm public involvement program plan found inadequate after review


After reviewing Atlantic Wind LLC’s Public Involvement Program Plan for the Horse Creek Wind Farm project, state Department of Public Service staff members recommend that the developer expand its area of study, incorporate more community outreach and clearly establish its project area, stakeholders and turbine height for its final plan.

Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times


Sunday, July 24, 2016

 Lyme ~ Aubertine Relinquishes
Home Rule

Supervisor Scott Aubertine was quoted in the Watertown Daily Times as saying, “If they come in,we will use any revenue that they give us,and if they don’t come in we’ll continue to operate under budget as we have always.”  Link to original WDT article

Aubertine’s apathy about the Horse Creek wind farm proposal is the equivalent of Lyme relinquishing home rule, contrary to what Article 10 tried to preserve. Article 10 is quite clear that local laws remain in force until the developer, in this case Iberdrola, makes a case, and is supported by the Siting Board, that Lyme’s local law should be supplanted and set aside. Remarkably, Aubertine has made Iberdrola’s job so much easier, in fact Iberdrola’s representatives are probably doing high-fives after reading that Lyme has quit.

Whether Aubertine and Lyme are for industrial wind or against it they are required by Town Law to protect the health, safety and general welfare of their constituency, Lyme residents. In the Article 10 process if the town doesn’t look after their citizens then the default goes to Iberdrola.  Are there any health and safety issues related to industrial wind development? Absolutely! Contrary to Aubertine’s apathy, Lyme officials should be lining up experts to help them argue their town law regulating wind is reasonable and timely. That is what intervenor funding was designed to do, to help municipalities defend their land use regulations from deep-pocketed developers.

To not take a more active role in the process Aubertine’s view is much the same as a chicken farmer leaving the henhouse open and saying if the fox doesn’t eat my chickens I’ll continue to harvest the eggs and if the fox eats the chickens then I won’t have to buy as much chicken feed.  Either way the farmer should be doing more to protect his chickens and not rely on the fox to determine their outcome.

Clif Schneider




 Lyme ~ What lies beneath Supervisor Aubertine’s Apathy?



Supervisor Scott Aubertine was quoted in the Watertown Daily Times as saying, “If they come in,we will use any revenue that they give us,and if they don’t come in we’ll continue to operate under budget as we have always.”


Aubertine’s quote in today’s Watertown Times is understandable considering his past supportive position on wind development. In a 2011 news video he dismissed the results of a wind power survey in the town of Lyme saying it's too heavily weighted with seasonal residents' opinions. To further clarify his position against “Seasonals” Aubertine posted a letter on his website explaining that he would “rather lose an election than lose friends.” These stated positions in the past help explain Aubertine’s reluctance to get involved in an issue if it could jeopardize his local friendships.


Transcript: Scott Aubertine letter link here
Video: Despite Survey, Lyme Wind Power Controversy Not Over Link here
Aubertine letter Revenues from wind turbines can benefit towns: Link here

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Wind power is destabilizing our power grid


By Rob Port Today at 8:06 p.m.

MINOT—Wind power is making our energy grid less reliable.

That's not a political statement. It's a factual statement. Thanks to policies ranging from heavy federal subsidies for wind power production to state mandates for renewable energy, we have seen a boom in wind power development.

Continue reading via this link to the Grand Forks Herald

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Port directors urge U.S. Senate to adopt ballast water regulation reforms


WATERTOWN — Directors of 14 major commercial ports in the Great Lakes region are calling on the Senate Armed Services Committee to include ballast regulatory reform in the final version of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.


Monday, July 18, 2016


Money well spent: State would be wise to offer subsidies for nuclear facilities

The New York State Public Service Commission recently announced new nuclear power benefits to be included in the Clean Energy Standard (CES). Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times



The deadline to submit public comment on the CES is Friday. Comments can be submitted via the Department of Public Service website, www.dps.ny.gov. We encourage people to offer their support for this measure and hope the PSC will approve it next month.


ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

 
Department of Public Service Staff has issued for comment a White Paper on Clean Energy Standard (CES) designed to meet Governor Cuomo’s directive that DPS develop a clean energy standard to ensure achievement of the State Energy Plan’s clean energy goals. The Commission is expected to make a decision on the CES this summer. The White Paper is viewable here.




The Commission will consider changes in current regulatory, tariff, and market designs and incentive structures to better align utility interests with achieving the Commission’s policy objectives. The White Paper on Ratemaking and Utility Business Models was filed on July 28, 2015 and is viewable here

SUBMIT COMMENTS ONLINE
OR BY PHONE 1-800-335-2120

   


Money well spent: State would be wise to offer subsidies for nuclear facilities

The New York State Public Service Commission recently announced new nuclear power benefits to be included in the Clean Energy Standard (CES). Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times



The deadline to submit public comment on the CES is Friday. Comments can be submitted via the Department of Public Service website, www.dps.ny.gov. We encourage people to offer their support for this measure and hope the PSC will approve it next month.


ABOUT THE INITIATIVE


Department of Public Service Staff has issued for comment a White Paper on Clean Energy Standard (CES) designed to meet Governor Cuomo’s directive that DPS develop a clean energy standard to ensure achievement of the State Energy Plan’s clean energy goals. The Commission is expected to make a decision on the CES this summer. The White Paper is viewable here.



The Commission will consider changes in current regulatory, tariff, and market designs and incentive structures to better align utility interests with achieving the Commission’s policy objectives. The White Paper on Ratemaking and Utility Business Models was filed on July 28, 2015 and is viewable here

   
SUBMIT COMMENTS ONLINE
OR BY PHONE 1-800-335-2120

   


Money well spent: State would be wise to offer subsidies for nuclear facilities

The New York State Public Service Commission recently announced new nuclear power benefits to be included in the Clean Energy Standard (CES). Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times


The deadline to submit public comment on the CES is Friday. Comments can be submitted via the Department of Public Service website, www.dps.ny.gov. We encourage people to offer their support for this measure and hope the PSC will approve it next month.


ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

 Department of Public Service Staff has issued for comment a White Paper on Clean Energy Standard (CES) designed to meet Governor Cuomo’s directive that DPS develop a clean energy standard to ensure achievement of the State Energy Plan’s clean energy goals. The Commission is expected to make a decision on the CES this summer. The White Paper is viewable here.




The Commission will consider changes in current regulatory, tariff, and market designs and incentive structures to better align utility interests with achieving the Commission’s policy objectives. The White Paper on Ratemaking and Utility Business Models was filed on July 28, 2015 and is viewablehere.
SUBMIT COMMENTS ONLINE
OR BY PHONE 1-800-335-2120

   

Friday, July 15, 2016

Judge: Clayton’s moratorium on meteorological towers stands for now


CLAYTON — A state Supreme Court judge has denied Atlantic Wind LLC’s request for a preliminary injunction in a dispute with the Town Council over a six-month moratorium the council adopted on the installation of towers used to measure meteorological conditions.

Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Entergy aims to sell FitzPatrick nuclear plant by mid-August


SCRIBA, N.Y. -- Entergy Corp. today confirmed that it is negotiating to sell the FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County to Exelon Corp. Entergy said it will close the plant in January, as previously announced, if the sale cannot be completed.

Continue reading via this link to Syracuse.com

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Bad faith pops out: Alexandria Bay chamber revokes vendor’s Craft Fair invite


The Alexandria Bay Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to promote chamber members,” Ronald G. Thomson, treasurer of the chamber board, told the Watertown Daily Times. “We encourage people to patronize our member companies.”

 Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Daily Times