Power Authority must put NRG in loop
By GEORGE BORRELLO , The OBSERVER, www.observertoday.com 11 October 2011
By GEORGE BORRELLO , The OBSERVER, www.observertoday.com 11 October 2011
I am writing this letter to comment on the article ”Powering the Big Apple” (Oct. 2)
I am glad to see that the lack of power transmission capacity in our state is finally coming to the forefront. The fact that the New York Power Authority wasted millions of dollars and over two years trying to push the offshore windmill agenda for Lake Erie without addressing the inability to transport the power shows their poor judgment. It also shows their inability to be good stewards of the public’s money and of our true source of clean, renewable energy – hydroelectric power.
The Power Authority was going to commit over a billion dollars to that boondoggle windmill project known as GLOW – Great Lakes Offshore Wind. Now we face the uncertainty of jobs and the NRG plant in Dunkirk for the future. The transmission line issue needs to be addressed and Power Authority needs to step up.
Whether you agree or disagree with coal-fired plants continuing to operate, upgraded power transmission lines are needed to transport any electricity regardless of its source.
Right now there are several land-based windmill projects being proposed for our area including two large projects in Chautauqua County. I strongly oppose them for the same reasons I oppose the offshore windmills. They are a huge waste of taxpayer dollars as they cannot exist without never-ending taxpayer subsidies. Now we can add the inability to transmit the overpriced windmill electricity to the list of reasons to oppose it.
New York Power Authority should take some of the millions of dollars they “earn” through the confiscation of power from the Niagara Power Project and invest it in transmission line infrastructure in Western New York.
Normally I would not support public funding of such a thing. However, the authority has a history of wasting money on ridiculous proposals like offshore wind and state leaders routinely raid the authority piggy bank to support their pork-barrel projects. So the funds from the New York Power Authority are better served improving transmission line infrastructure and saving jobs versus further expanding our welfare state or bribing local groups and elected officials into supporting the authority’s self-serving agenda.
If you don’t believe that the New York Power Authority is offering bribes you can look at the long list of donations made by the Authority to organizations, both public and private, that have nothing to do with generating power.
George Borrello is an Irving resident and Chautauqua County legislator.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/11/power-authority-must-put-nrg-in-loop/