ALBANY – New York Regional Interconnect Inc. announced Monday that it has petitioned the state’s top power line authority to make a judgment on the constitutionality of a law that squashes the company’s ability to condemn and take private property, according to a NYRI press release.
NYRI also wants the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to interpret whether or not the law – an amendment to what’s known as the “Transportation Corporation Laws,” which govern utilities – negates the commission’s right to review it.
“NYRI believes in New York State’s regulatory process and only asks that its project be judged by the PSC on its merits,” said NYRI Attorney Len Singer Monday in a prepared statement. “However, we are seeking to determine if the 2006 (Transportation Corporation) law has effectively taken away the PSC’s authority to site this transmission line.”
NYRI is questioning if the PSC can legally and fundamentally approve a power line that can’t be built, or will have difficulty being built, because it doesn’t have access to eminent domain to secure required land rights.
A PSC spokeswoman could not comment Tuesday specifically on the commission’s response to the petition.
“We confirm that we have received it,” said Anne Dalton. “And in due course, we will review the petition.”
A former PSC spokesman, however, said in October 2006 that NYRI’s loss of eminent domain would not impact the PSC’s review of the power line and that it was a hurdle NYRI, if approved, would have to overcome on its own.
“That’s in NYRI’s hands,” said former PSC representative Gary Davidson, in a story published Oct. 23, 2006 in The Evening Sun. “They will have to address that issue.”
Dalton said she could not comment on Davidson’s previous statements.
Without the use of eminent domain, NYRI will have to negotiate all necessary land purchases with individual owners before it can build its line.
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