Schumer And McNulty Kick Start Renewed Effort To Reopen Competitive Licensing At Cohoes Falls -- Both Reintroduce Legislation Today

Schumer And McNulty Kick Start Renewed Effort To Reopen Competitive Licensing At Cohoes Falls -- Both Reintroduce Legislation Today

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and Congressman Michael R. McNulty (D-Green Island) announced that they are reintroducing landmark legislation to reopen the competitive licensing process for the Cohoes Falls restoration project. This bill would permit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to consider other applications of entities interested in rejuvenating Cohoes Falls. The project, that would restore the falls to its natural beauty, protect the aquatic environment, and deliver lower cost energy to Capital Region communities and businesses, has long been stalled as the current license has simply been extended every year.

The Cohoes Falls are the second highest waterfalls in New York State. Since 1911, these majestic falls have remained dry on all but the rarest of occasions. When the current power house was built, it diverted the flow of the river through a canal, which leaves a one mile stretch of the Mohawk River, including the Cohoes Falls dry on all but a handful of days a year.

"It's time to open up this process, end the bureaucratic wrangling, and allow the bold endeavor of restoring the falls to its original grandeur to finally move forward," Schumer said. "Cohoes Falls has the potential to be an environmental gem of the Capital Region. My legislation would break the deadlock and put restoration of the falls on the fast track toward completion. The new license is good for the next 50 years, so we owe it to future generations to get this right."

"This legislation is a simple, but effective way to allow FERC to consider other projects besides the same antiquated one that our constituents have been dealing with for years. The bill would give FERC the chance to at least consider a project that will produce more hydropower, restore the falls, save more fish, and bring more jobs to the Capital District," McNulty said.

FERC's current regulations require it to consider only applications that were filed in 1991 as the former license was expiring. At that time Niagara Mohawk owned the facility and New York's regulated electric industry permitted NIMO to have a monopoly, and no other entity challenged for the license. After the state deregulated the industry, NIMO sold the facility, and now it has been resold several times since. In the intervening years, the Green Island Power Authority (GIPA) has proposed an alternate plan for Cohoes Falls that would completely rewater the falls from bank to bank every day of the year, while more than doubling the amount of energy that is produced at the site. The GIPA proposal would keep most of the power produced in the Capital Region, to help attract businesses and reduce municipal costs. In addition, it would include state of the art fish protection that would make the falls more environmentally friendly and help restore the fishery in the region. Yet despite these sales and the deregulation of the industry, as well as sixteen years of technological advances, FERC maintains that it cannot consider any proposal that was not filed in 1991.

The bill states if a hydroelectric plant on the Mohawk River has been operating under annual licenses for 10 or more years, FERC must consider all valid license applications before issuing a new license. This language does not favor any potential applicant, but would allow entities such as GIPA to compete with the current owner, Brookfield Power Corp., a Canadian company, for the license.

"This relicensure process is well into its second decade. It defies logic to allow exclusive rights to the license for Cohoes Falls, and ignores potentially superior proposals from ever being considered. The new license is good for the next 50 years, so we owe it to future generations to get this right," Schumer said.

Given their pending legislation, Schumer and McNulty today also wrote to the Chairman of FERC asking him to not make any irreversible decisions that would prevent the relicensing of Cohoes Falls from going through an open and fully competitive process. Schumer said FERC is expected to discuss the Cohoes Falls project at its meeting on Thursday and he specifically asked the Chairman to not extend the current license in order to allow "the legislative process a chance to resolve itself before making any long term decisions regarding this project."

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=267603&&year=2007&