Lawmakers Seek To Block Power Line
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — A handful of upstate lawmakers said yesterday they would soon offer legislation seeking to block a controversial power transmission line that would run from the Utica area to the lower Hudson Valley.
Central New Yorkers have been fighting the proposed 200-mile, high voltage transmission line proposed by Albany-based New York Regional Interconnect Inc.
The company says a new line is needed to handle the growing demand for power in New York City and its surrounding suburbs and contend project would save consumers $500 million a year.
Yesterday, Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a Democrat of Hurley, Rep. Michael Arcuri, a Democrat of Utica, and Rep. John Hall, a Democrat of Dover Plains, said they would sponsor three bills seeking to stop the NYRI project from going forward.
Specifically, the lawmakers want to strip out a provision of the 2005 energy bill passed by Congress that allows the federal government to designate National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors.
