The Atlantic Chapter, other environmental groups, and local elected officials are urging the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) to withdraw its request for a revised proposal to repower the Cayuga coal-fired power plant with gas.
Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Citizens Campaign for the Environment and Environmental Advocates have filed a motion with the PSC to request more information about the process, noting that the PSC has not identified areas for public participation and that the process lacks transparency.
These groups note that the proposal is expensive and unnecessary, and could lead to higher electricity bills for families and businesses statewide. They also state that PSC has not adequately explained the need for a coal to gas transition.
“It couldn’t be clearer that the best solution for families, businesses and the Upstate economy is to retire these dirty and outdated coal plants and invest in cost-effective transmission solutions that will mean reliable, affordable power for our homes and businesses,” said Jennifer Tuttle, a Sierra Club organizer.
Currently Cayuga supplies a small amount of support to the region’s electric grid. Cayuga could be replaced, the groups contend, with low-cost transmission upgrades that would move power around the region more effectively, without the added cost of an entirely new plant.
“This PSC proceeding has been characterized by secrecy and concealment of crucial information from the public. The PSC staff has already conceded that each of the four repowering proposals for the Cayuga plant impermissibly shift the financial risk of continuing to operate this uneconomic plant to the ratepayers,” said Earthjustice attorney Chris Amato.
“Nevertheless, the PSC is insisting that yet another repowering proposal be prepared, without providing any explanation for its decision. The PSC has yet to address any of the numerous public comments from ratepayers and others opposing repowering. The Commission has also failed to enforce its prior directive that the environmental impacts of repowering be analyzed before any decision is made. Our motion seeks to stop the PSC’s rush to judgment,” said Amato.
Opponents are concerned because the PSC has ignored thousands of public comments and technical filings which support a more cost-effective transmission solution. The legal motion demands that the PSC provide justification for its request of a revised proposal from New York State Electric & Gas and Cayuga Operating Company (the owners of the Cayuga plant) to repower the plant.
“The ratepaying public deserves better from the agency charged with protecting our interests,” said Tompkins County legislator Carol Chock, among a group of elected officials from Cayuga, Cortland, Erie, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins counties who have intervened in the PSC proceedings.
The motion filed by the coalition also criticizes the lack of overall transparency in the proceedings. This action seeks public access to heavily-redacted documents from the coal plant owners and transmission utilities.
“Instead of forcing upstate ratepayers to subsidize these unnecessary and uneconomic power plants, the PSC should remain focused on the state’s clean energy goals,” said Conor Bambrick of Environmental Advocates of New York.