New York Regional Interconnect is history.
The
much-opposed 190 mile long power line that would have sliced through
this region withdrew its application from the Public Service Commission
Friday during the hearings that were to determine its fate.
The
reason, according to NYRI and an Orange County man at the Albany
hearings, was a ruling this week by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission that NYRI could not recoup the $2 billion investment that
would have been passed to consumers.
That March 31 decision “created
an unacceptable financial risk for NYRI’s investors,” said NYRI in a
statement. “Even if the NYRI project were to be sited by the PSC, NYRI
would face the prospect of being unable to recover transmission costs
from the ratepayers who would benefit from the project.”
Noel
Arnold, who attended the hearings and whose Orange County home would
have sat in the shadow of the 10 story tall line, said NYRI’s move
“shocked” the room.
“Apparently, the investors told NYRI during
lunch that they weren’t continuing,” said Arnold, who added that the
judge then adjourned the hearings until Monday when NYRI’s lawyer will
notify the PSC in writing.
Arnold is one of scores of NYRI opponents
who fought the project from the shores of the Delaware River in
Sullivan County through the Village of Otisville and on to the Town of
Windsor in Orange. Many literally screamed with joy when they heard the
news.
“This is like David beating Goliath,” said Otisville’s Gail
Heatherly of SayNo2NYRI, one of several grass roots groups from Utica
to New Windsor that have battled NYRI with rallies, petitions and in
court over the past few years. “This proves that it was all nonsense
when they said they were doing it for the state. Once they couldn’t
make money, they went away.”
Local, state and federal politicians,
who were unanimously against the line that would have cut through farm
fields, hillsides and villages, cheered the latest, and apparently
final, bit of bad news for NYRI, which recently learned it could not
bypass the state to win federal approval.
“One word: victory,” said State Senator John Bonacic, who sponsored legislation that prohibited NYRI from using eminent domain.
“It was never about power, it was about money,” said Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther.
“Ding Dong the witch is dead,” said US Senator Chuck Schumer.
But Friday, the people along the route who feared they would lose their land and homes cheered the loudest.
“Now
I feel all the work was worth it,” said Elaine Allen, a retired
resident of Hamptonburgh, whose home would have been dwarfed by the
lines. “Going to Albany, hosting meetings, standing in the hot sun
getting petitions, it was all worth it.”
Allen just had one more anti NYRI task Friday.
“I’m going to get on the phone and tell everyone the good news.”
sisrael@th-record.com