Indian tribe pulls out of power plant water deal
BURRILLVILLE – The Narragansett Indian Tribe has pulled out of an agreement to be a supplementary source of water for Invenergy’s $1 billion power plant in Pascoag.
The move comes one week before the state Energy Facility Siting Board’s show-cause hearing on Jan. 30 at which Invenergy will be asked to show why its power plant application should not be suspended indefinitely pending the outcome of two power plant-related lawsuits currently before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C.
The Narragansett Indian Tribe requested termination of the water supply deal last week, saying the agreement with Invenergy had caused deep rifts in Tribal leadership. The Tribe’s decision was brought to the attention of the EFSB yesterday by Invenergy, saying the water supply agreement between
Invenergy and the Tribe “has been terminated and is null and void.”
“Accordingly, the Tribe is removed as a secondary contingent water supply source for the purposed of the Dept. 28, 2017 Supplemental Water Supply Plan,” Invenergy attorney Alan M Shoer said in a letter yesterday to EFSB Coordinator Todd A. Bianco.
John Brown, the tribe’s historic preservation officer, sent a letter Jan. 18 to Michael Blazer, chief legal officer for Invenergy, saying “I must regretfully ask, in the interest of fairness to the continuing progress of your project, and in order to allow the Tribe to finally resolve matters related to Tribal governance without undue interference by outsiders with their own agenda, that we mutually agree to voluntarily terminate the water supply agreement.”
Invenergy’s first choice for water is the town of Johnston, which plans to resell the company water the town draws from the Providence Water Supply Board. John- ston inked that deal – $18 million for 20 years’ worth of water – in January of last year.
In September of last year, Invenergy identified the Narragansett Indian Tribe as a source for an additional back-up or contingent water supply. The Tribe owns and operates its own wells in Charlestown to meet its public supply requirements. The wells obtain water from the aquifer within the southern portion of the Lower Wood Aquifer, located within the Pawcatuck Basin.
As part of the deal with Invenergy, water from the Tribe was to be delivered to the proposed power plant by Benn Water, a second source of water to the plant.
Several weeks later, some members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe protested against their tribal water being sold to Invenergy, claiming the water deal was made illegally without a vote from the tribal body, which violates their constitution.
In his letter to Blazer, Brown said statements and actions by those tribal protesters “has created a significant amount of turmoil, which has been exacerbated by individuals outside the Tribe who are opposed to the project. Unfortunately, at this juncture, despite our mutual best interest, it seems clear that the continued existence of the water supply agreement will do nothing other than to feed this controversy.”
In a return letter to Brown, Blazer wrote: “We completely understand and sympathize with the issues the Tribe has had to deal with, as we have been first hand witnesses to many of those instances which created a significant amount of turmoil, misinformation and misunderstanding. We sincerely hope that we can work with you in some other productive way in the future in order to bring much needed economic relief to the Tribe.”
In a public statement regarding the Tribe’s termination of the agreement, Blazer said: “It is unfortunate that this agreement, which would have brought much-needed new revenue to the Tribe, has been undermined by the unfair criticism of Tribal leaders by project opponents. The water supply agreement with the Tribe provided a secondary back-up wa- ter source and therefore, this decision will not impact our water supply plan.”
Burrillville town officials released a statement yesterday, saying ““This latest development highlights our ongoing concerns about Invenergy’s failure to have a realistic and viable plan for its water supply for the proposed Clear River Energy Center power plant. As we have said, the application for the power plant has been incomplete- and misleading. This is the fifth water plan proposed by Invenergy and once again the water plan had not been fully vetted for its feasibly and impact. At this juncture, there doesn’t seem to be any solid water plan - either primary or backup.”
Last month, the Conservation Law Foundation and the town of Burrillville sent a joint letter to the EFSB requests that the panel take “administrative notice” of new ewest lawsuit against Invenergy and use this information at the the EFSB’s scheduled show cause hearing on Jan. 30.
The EFSB agreed to schedule the hearing for Invenergy to show why its power plant application should not be suspended indefinitely pending the outcome of two FERC lawsuits.
In testimony before the EFSB on Nov. 27, the CLF informed the panel that Invenergy had so far been unable to sign an interconnection agreement for its proposed power plant with National Grid and the ISO (the operator of the New England electricity grid). In response to that, John Niland, director of business development for Invenergy, sent a letter to the EFSB on Dec. 1, admitting, for the first time, that there were two recently-filed Invenergy lawsuits pending at FERC pertaining to Invenergy’s interconnection.
Based on that information, the CLF and Town of Burrillville urged the EFSB to schedule the hearing and have Invenergy show cause as to why the power plant docket should not be suspended indefinitely in order to await the results of the lawsuits pending before FERC.
The Jan. 30 hearing is scheduled to be held at 9:30 a.m. at the Public Utilities Commission Offices, 89 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick.