Town urges public to monitor power station plan
HURLEY, N.Y. » Town officials are urging Hurley residents to participate in a videoconference presentation Thursday about the process that will be used by regulators to determine whether developers can move forward with a proposed underground power station near the Ashokan Reservoir in the town of Olive.
The videoconference, sponsored by Olive, is to start at 6:30 p.m. and can be accessed online at bit.ly/olivehydro.
“This will affect the town of Hurley in multiple ways,” town Supervisor John Perry said. “So learn about it before this gets too far ahead. We are at a very, very, very early stage of it. But if we can advise and educate, it might not go any further.”
Perry said Hurley expects to file a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to be given “intervener” status during the application review. The towns of Olive and Woodstock have done the same, as has New York City, on whose land the power station would be located.
Premium Energy Holdings of Walnut, Calif., says in its 28-page application that it wants to create the 2,800-megawatt power station 200 to 300 feet below ground on one of three sites — two near state Route 28, and one on the north side of the Ashokan’s west basin.
The station would be powered by water from a new reservoir, built in one of three proposed locations, that would draw water from either the Ashokan Reservoir, which is operated by New York City, or the Upper Esopus Creek.
Of the 2,800 megawatts of electricity to be generated, 800 would be sent into the grid via Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.’s substation on Hurley Avenue in the town of Ulster, while the remainder would be used to keep the facility itself functioning.
If New York City does not agree to the project, Premium could seek to have it designated as necessary by the New York Independent System Operators and then have it approved by the state Public Service Commission through eminent-domain proceedings.
Olive Supervisor James Sofranko said Thursday’s video presentation will be given by Ginger Strand, a journalist and author who has written about hydroelectric infrastructure.
“She a resident of Woodland Valley, so she started looking into this very early,” Sofranko said.
Sites under consideration for the supplemental reservoir, which could cover as much as 313 acres, are in West Shokan, near Moon Haw Road; Woodland Valley, near Muddy Brook Road; and Chichester, off of state Route 214. The selected site would be connected to the power plant by a tunnel.