WASHINGTON - East Coast lawmakers banded together Thursday in a bid to short-circuit a federal decision making it easier for power companies to build major power lines like the New York Regional Interconnect.
From New York to Virginia and in several states in between, residents are facing the prospect of new high-voltage line construction after an announcement last week by the Department of Energy.
The agency proposed a “national interest electric transmission corridor” based on a 2005 law giving the federal government new authority to approve line construction even if local or state officials object.
On Thursday, a group of lawmakers said they would try to use the annual spending bill for water and energy to specifically bar the government from going forward with the corridor plan.
Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, said his constituents in New York's Hudson Valley were “in a fighting mood” and willing to take that fight to Congress.
Blocking the decision through a spending bill would be easier than trying to pass a stand-alone law, but because it is an annual budget, any such provision would expire the following year.
The 2005 energy law establishing the electricity corridor is designed to relieve bottlenecks in the national power grid, decreasing the threat of blackouts like the one that swept from Ohio to New York City in 2003.
Critics like Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, who lives about 400 feet from the proposed NYRI line, said such construction would not fix the more important problem of failing local power lines.
“The proposal in New York only serves to create more congestion,” said Arcuri. “This project will do nothing whatsoever to prevent blackouts.”
The corridor designations could help private industry obtain permits from state regulators or to work in conjunction with regional groups to build new lines. Utilities in New York and other states have long accused state authorities of being reluctant to approve new lines, often because of local opposition.
In announcing the decision last week, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said action was needed because the current grid “is aging and stressed.”
The agency proposed a “national interest electric transmission corridor” based on a 2005 law giving the federal government new authority to approve line construction even if local or state officials object.
On Thursday, a group of lawmakers said they would try to use the annual spending bill for water and energy to specifically bar the government from going forward with the corridor plan.
Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, said his constituents in New York's Hudson Valley were “in a fighting mood” and willing to take that fight to Congress.
Blocking the decision through a spending bill would be easier than trying to pass a stand-alone law, but because it is an annual budget, any such provision would expire the following year.
The 2005 energy law establishing the electricity corridor is designed to relieve bottlenecks in the national power grid, decreasing the threat of blackouts like the one that swept from Ohio to New York City in 2003.
Critics like Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, who lives about 400 feet from the proposed NYRI line, said such construction would not fix the more important problem of failing local power lines.
“The proposal in New York only serves to create more congestion,” said Arcuri. “This project will do nothing whatsoever to prevent blackouts.”
The corridor designations could help private industry obtain permits from state regulators or to work in conjunction with regional groups to build new lines. Utilities in New York and other states have long accused state authorities of being reluctant to approve new lines, often because of local opposition.
In announcing the decision last week, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said action was needed because the current grid “is aging and stressed.”
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