Statement By Senator John Bonacic In Relation To Nyri Action With Public Service Commission

"It is clear that New York Regional Interconnect (NYRI) still does not get it. Governor Spitzer has said the NYRI power line is not going to happen. Now NYRI is asking the Public Service Commission, which is composed of gubernatorial appointees, to make the siting of the very power line the Governor said is not going to happen easier.

For well over a year, NYRI has been trying to put power lines over our lands. For well over a year, the people and Legislature of the State of New York have done all we can to stop it.

I urge the Governor to tell the Public Service Commission to take NYRI's request, study it for however long needed, whether that's months or years, and come to the same conclusion that the Attorney General of this State has and that the people of New York want: NYRI may not use New York's eminent domain laws against New Yorkers. Such use is inappropriate as a matter of law and policy.

We need energy solutions. Those solutions should include green building development, expanded solar use, and requirements for more energy efficiency across our country. The energy solution should not be higher electric rates in a struggling upstate New York or the blighting of our lands in the Catskills and Hudson Valley - all with the effect of lowering rates for the downstate area where the economy is strong.

NYRI may have the money, but we, the people, still have the power, and we intend to keep it."

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