June 23, 2011
New York

Legislature passes new power plant law

By Jeremy Moule, City Newspaper, www.rochestercitynewspaper.com 23 June 2011

The state Legislature has approved a new law that will govern where power plants can be located and that will streamline the permitting process.

Yesterday, the Assembly and Senate passed the Power NY Act, which replaces the long-expired, yet politically-popular Title X. Environmental and business groups have lauded the new legislation.

The old law helped expedite plant siting and permitting which, in turn, saved the power companies and the state money and resources. Power NY takes the same approach, but with some differences. The old law predated New York’s wind farm boom and consequently didn’t cover those facilities. Power NY does, as long as they have a generation capacity exceeding 25 megawatts. That would exclude some small power plants or small wind towers at homes and businesses. But the threshold is low enough that it would cover some smaller wind farms and possibly solar power projects.

A few years ago, when Hamlin officials faced a wind farm proposal, they had to develop wind power regulations. That wouldn’t have been necessary had the new Title X been in place.

The legislation also includes incentives and loans for homeowners who make certain energy efficiency upgrades.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/06/23/legislature-passes-new-power-plant-law/