RESERVOIR RETHINK
Company that wants to build hydropower station will pick new site for water source
“The application ... displays a complete lack of understanding of these lands.”
— Town of Olive Supervisor James Sofranko
OLIVEBRIDGE, N.Y. » The company that wants to create an underground hydroelectric power station near the Ashokan Reservoir will look for a new location to build a supplemental reservoir that would power the operation, state Sen. Michelle Hinchey said Thursday.
Hinchey, D-Saugerties, was among about 50 elected officials and environmental advocates who gathered Thursday morning at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge to voice opposition to the 2,800-megawatt power station proposed by Premium Energy Holdings of Walnut, Calif.
Hinchey said Premium’s president, Victor Rojas, “has prom
ised that, because of our opposition, the three current proposals [for off-site reservoirs] will be rescinded, and a new alternative will be presented” as part of the company’s application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
But those who gathered Thursday would prefer the entire project be scrapped.
“That’s what we’re demonstrating here today,” Hinchey said.
Premium says in the 28page application it submitted to FERC that it wants to create a 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.
Of the electricity to be generated, 800 watts would be sent into the grid via Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.’s substation on Hurley Avenue in the town of Ulster during 12-hour periods when demand is high, while the remainder would be used to keep the power station itself functioning.
The station would be powered by water from the Ashokan that first would be sent to the planned new reservoir. Premium originally was considering sites in West Shokan, Woodland Valley and the Greene County community of Lanesville to create the new reservoir.
There was no immediate word Thursday about a new location for that reservoir, and representatives for Premium Energy could not be reached for comment.
State Sen. Peter Oberacker, R-Schenevus, said at Thursday’s event that Premium’s proposal amounts to “running roughshod over our forests and wildlife,” and he told those gathered that the company should not be allowed to tamper with the beauty of the Ashokan Reservoir area.
The massive reservoir, operated by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, is partly in Hinchey’s Senate district and partly in Oberacker’s. The power station would be in Oberacker’s district.
Local officials on Thursday said they don’t believe Premium cares about the sentiment among area residents. Town of Olive Supervisor James Sofranko noted the company didn’t even take the time to correctly identify community names on its application.
“The application ... displays a complete lack of understanding of these lands,” he said. “The application is fraught with misinformation and inaccuracies. They didn’t even get the name of the town of Olive correct . ...
“There must be some minimum standard by which FERC holds applicants for the information they provide in these applications,” Sofranko said.
Town of Hunter Supervisor Daryl Legg, in whose community Lanesville is located, said Premium Energy left Greene County out of the notification loop despite the possible reservoir location and did not notify either the state Department of Transportation or Department of Environmental Conservation.
“I found out about this project actually by mistake,” Legg said. “One of the people who lives in Lanesville approached the Town Board.”
New York City, on whose land the power station would be located, also was not notified in advance, a city environmental department spokesman said in February.
If the city does not agree to allow the power station, Premium could seek to have the project 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.