Both sides of power line issue see House vote as a win

WASHINGTON – Congress defeated an amendment Wednesday, 257 to 174, that would have blocked funding for a controversial federal energy corridor program that fast-track’s the construction of electricity transmission facilities like the New York Regional Interconnection.

Members on both sides of the power line issue saw the vote as a win.

A representative for www.evesun.com/topics/news/NYRI/">NYRI, a Canadian-backed company proposing to build a 190-mile long power line through eight upstate counties, called Congress’ action against the legislation, introduced by U.S. representatives Maurice Hinchey (D-Hurley) and Frank Wolf (D-Vienna, Va), a “victory for energy security and environmental stewardship.” NYRI contends its power line will relieve electricity congestion downstate.

U.S. Representative Michael Arcuri (D-Utica), one of the more vocal opponents of NYRI and the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor program – which could override state authority and give companies like NYRI the power of federal eminent domain to take private property – saw the defeat as a “good first-step” in educating other states about the pros and cons of creating a large-scale power line cattle call.

“Yesterday (Wednesday) was important,” Arcuri said in telephone interview Thursday. “We’ve taken a local issue and made it a national issue.”

Locally, citizens up and down NYRI’s proposed power line route have come out in opposition to the project. Many fear it would devastate local economies, alter the natural environment and deter future growth and tourism in an already depressed area. Many have called for energy conservation and generation closer to Metropolitan New York, where NYRI’s line would deliver cheaper upstate electricity. Talk of the project has already halted a planned hotel and resort in the Town of Norwich, hotel investors and municipal officials have said.