Schumer Urges FERC To Accept And Reconsider GIPA Alternative Proposal For Relicensing After Court Vacates School Street Project License Order

Press Release

FERC Refused to Consider Green Island Power Authority Proposal for Hydro Power Plant on Cohoes Falls but Court Rejected Reasoning

With Court Decision, Schumer Urges FERC to Reconsider 2006 GIPA Alternative Proposal-- A Superior Alternative

Schumer: FERC Must Act Promptly to Reap The Potential Benefits of GIPA's Alternative Proposal for Renewable Power in the Capit

Following a Second Circuit Court ruling vacating the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC)'s decision to issue a new, 40-year license to the School Street Project and reject the Green Island Power Authority's (GIPA) proposal to build a 100-megawatt hydro power plant at Cohoes Falls as an alternative to School Street, today U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called on FERC to reconsider the GIPA proposal submitted in 2006. Since 2005, Schumer has been urging FERC to consider the GIPA proposal, but FERC has refused on procedural grounds, claiming that it was prohibited from evaluating proposals that were not submitted in competition with the original Erie proposal in 1991. In August, the United States Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit Court ruled that FERC's reasoning was unsound and that the GIPA proposal should have been considered. At this time, FERC has not yet asked the US Supreme Court to reconsider the 2nd Circuit's decision nor has it has yet stated whether it will accept GIPA's proposal. Today, Schumer is calling on FERC to accept and consider the GIPA proposal, as an alternative proposal in the School Street relicensing and after considering the far superior GIPA alternative, decide whether it will still issue a new 40-year license to the 100-year old School Street Project, as in the public interest. If not, then he recommends that FERC reopen the existing School Street site and license to competing proposals.

"The fact that FERC has not yet appealed the court's decision is a good first step, but now they need to step up to the plate and review GIPA's proposal," said Schumer. "Cohoes Falls has the potential to be an environmental gem and economic engine of the Capital Region, boosting tourism, luring businesses, and creating green jobs. FERC should consider GIPA's 2006 proposal immediately to allow the bold endeavor of restoring Cohoes Falls to its original grandeur and to finally move forward."

The Cohoes Falls are the second highest waterfalls in New York State. Since 1911, the Mohawk River flow has been diverted through a canal to the hydroelectric plant adjacent to the falls on School Street. The diversion leaves a one mile stretch of the Mohawk River, including the Cohoes Falls, virtually dry much of the year. The Green Island Power Authority (GIPA) has proposed building a new 100-megawatt hydro plant at the Falls for years, but FERC refused to consider its proposal and two years ago granted Erie Boulevard Hydropwer, L.P., a Canadian company, a new 40-year license for the present School Street facility.

Schumer has a long history of fighting for a relicensing process that would include all interested parties. In 2005 he wrote to Patrick Wood III, the chairman of FERC at the time, asking him to reconsider the decision to reject the Green Island Power Authority's proposal on procedural grounds.

On August 10, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in the case Green Island Power Authority v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, confirmed essentially what Senator Schumer has been urging for years. The Court found that FERC had been "arbitrary and capricious" in denying interested parties like GIPA the opportunity to intervene in the School Street relicensing proceeding. The Court granted GIPA's petitions for review of the FERC orders denying its motion to intervene and denying its request for rehearing of that decision, and the court vacated FERC's 2007 order issuing a new 40-year license to Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P., a Subsidiary of Brookfield Power of Canada for the School Street Project.

To this point, FERC has not appealed the court's decision but there are many issues that need to be dealt with by the Commission and the parties with regard to this project.

In an effort to speed up the process, today Schumer wrote to FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff urging him to reconsider GIPA's 2006 proposal and allow the best project to prevail, so that the next new license for the site will be consistent with the best adapted plan for the waterway, as the Second Circuit Court's recent decision reminded FERC it was obligated to do, under the law.

Schumer noted that accepting and reviewing the Green Island Power Authority proposal will undoubtedly facilitate the Commission's ability to ask such additional questions as it may have about the range of proposals available and to receive answers from those most capable of providing them.

In the letter, Schumer wrote: "You and your fellow commissioners are well aware of the Nation's need for more renewable energy resources to be added to our inventory of energy assets and also the critical imperative for jobs during these hard-pressed economic times. The larger the portfolio of choices available to the Commission, the better the final decision should be for all stakeholders. The sooner the best decisions are made, the more valuable and welcome the relief to the local communities for the added jobs, renewable energy and enhanced environmental conditions."

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