CHENANGO COUNTY – Opponents of New York Regional Interconnect’s $1.6 power line proposal say they can beat the Canadian energy developer if the fight stays in-state and out of Washington’s hands.

“If companies like NYRI were forced to play by the (New York State) Public Service Commission’s ‘rules,’” says Earlville resident and STOP NYRI co-chair Eve Ann Shwartz, “their applications would be properly denied because their proposals create unacceptable human, environmental and economic costs while still failing to solve the fundamental problems of system reliability and lower power costs for all New Yorkers.”

Last July, the PSC – the state’s long-standing power line authority – turned away NYRI’s permit application, citing the company’s failure to meet at least 10 different technical and visual requirements. Shwartz and others contend NYRI’s project is questionable and unnecessary, and only answering the call of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which seeks to fast-track investment in the nation’s electricity grid.

“I understand we need to improve the grid,” said Bill Acee, mayor of Sherburne, whose village would be bisected by the power line. “The is not the proper answer.”

Monday, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced he’s crafting legislation that would repeal certain provisions in that energy law, curbing the federal government’s new-found power to supplant state power line review authority and NYRI’s use of federal eminent domain to take private property.