“Don’t slam this
transmission line
into our
backyards when
people Downstate
don’t want the
discomfort of local
generation.”
Brian
O'Shaughnessy,
CEO Revere Copper
transmission line
into our
backyards when
people Downstate
don’t want the
discomfort of local
generation.”
Brian
O'Shaughnessy,
CEO Revere Copper
At New Hartford Hearing
Experts Tell Senators:
1. Manufacturing Will be Lost
2. Villages May Face Bankruptcy
3. Residents' Health at Risk
Experts Tell Senators:
1. Manufacturing Will be Lost
2. Villages May Face Bankruptcy
3. Residents' Health at Risk
Click Photos
to Enlarge
to Enlarge
Brian O’Shaughnessy, president and
chief executive officer of Revere
Copper Products delivered the
applause line of the night Monday
when he told a state Senate hearing
on the New York Regional
Interconnect, Inc. (NYRI) power line
proposal: “Don’t slam this
transmission line into our backyards
when people Downstate don’t want the
discomfort of local generation.”
O’Shaughnessy, regarded as one of
the most astute and energy-savvy
manufacturers in Upstate New York,
also told members of the Senate
Energy and Telecommunications
Committee hearing that there is no
surplus of power Upstate, and that far
from sending it elsewhere, what is
here already should be kept here.
The Revere Copper CEO was one of
several people to testify at the second
Senate hearing on the proposed 200-
mile-long electric transmission line
that would run from Oneida County to
Orange County. He warned that if
power left this region to lower prices
for consumers in the lower Hudson
Valley, it could drive up his electric
rates by as much as 50 percent and
force Revere to close. The same
could be said for other manufacturers
in the region.
As it is, said O’Shaughnessy, he
received phone calls from the
operators of New York’s power grid
during the recent heat wave, asking
him to shut down parts of his
operation because demand was close
to exceeding supply.
In short, according to O’Shaughnessy,
Revere could not survive the kind of
rate increase that would be caused by
the NYRI project.
It is a matter of survival for the Village
of Clayville, as well. Terry Dote, a
member of the village’s board and
president of the Upstate Citizen’s
Alliance, said the loss of property
taxes caused by devalued real estate
in the village would bankrupt his
community. Dote said he feared the
same could happen to other small
communities all along the 200-mile
route of the power line.
Dote was the latest of several people
to question the veracity of some of the
photo evidence presented in NYRI’s
Article VII application to the state
Public Service Commission (PSC). He
said the photos had been taken from
vantage points to exclude homes and
businesses. Dote said this was at best
misleading, but more likely was an
attempt to deceive the PSC.
Dote called on the PSC to pay
“microscopic attention” to every detail
in the NYRI application. If they do, said
Dote, their only conclusion can be
“Not in New York, Not now. Not ever.”
When asked by Sen. Ray Meier if
Clayville could be helped by the $30
million fund NYRI said it has
earmarked for communities, Dote
replied, “Only if they buy the entire
village and move everyone into new
homes elsewhere.”
Dr. Les Roberts, an epidemiologist,
professor and formerly of the Centers
for Disease Control said he believed
NYRI’s contention there are no known
health risks posed by power lines like
the ones it proposes to build to be
“delusional”. He said that he was
convinced there was a link between
high voltage power lines and
childhood leukemia.
Roberts also criticized NYRI’s choice
of routes. He said it seems the
company has what he called a “bizarre
notion” that because the proposed
line would follow a railroad right of way
that it mitigates contact with people.
“This is absurd placement,” for a
power line, said Roberts. He said it
appeared the line “maximizes human
exposure through Madison and
Chenango counties.”
About 400 people attended the
hearing.
Posted 2006.7.17
chief executive officer of Revere
Copper Products delivered the
applause line of the night Monday
when he told a state Senate hearing
on the New York Regional
Interconnect, Inc. (NYRI) power line
proposal: “Don’t slam this
transmission line into our backyards
when people Downstate don’t want the
discomfort of local generation.”
O’Shaughnessy, regarded as one of
the most astute and energy-savvy
manufacturers in Upstate New York,
also told members of the Senate
Energy and Telecommunications
Committee hearing that there is no
surplus of power Upstate, and that far
from sending it elsewhere, what is
here already should be kept here.
The Revere Copper CEO was one of
several people to testify at the second
Senate hearing on the proposed 200-
mile-long electric transmission line
that would run from Oneida County to
Orange County. He warned that if
power left this region to lower prices
for consumers in the lower Hudson
Valley, it could drive up his electric
rates by as much as 50 percent and
force Revere to close. The same
could be said for other manufacturers
in the region.
As it is, said O’Shaughnessy, he
received phone calls from the
operators of New York’s power grid
during the recent heat wave, asking
him to shut down parts of his
operation because demand was close
to exceeding supply.
In short, according to O’Shaughnessy,
Revere could not survive the kind of
rate increase that would be caused by
the NYRI project.
It is a matter of survival for the Village
of Clayville, as well. Terry Dote, a
member of the village’s board and
president of the Upstate Citizen’s
Alliance, said the loss of property
taxes caused by devalued real estate
in the village would bankrupt his
community. Dote said he feared the
same could happen to other small
communities all along the 200-mile
route of the power line.
Dote was the latest of several people
to question the veracity of some of the
photo evidence presented in NYRI’s
Article VII application to the state
Public Service Commission (PSC). He
said the photos had been taken from
vantage points to exclude homes and
businesses. Dote said this was at best
misleading, but more likely was an
attempt to deceive the PSC.
Dote called on the PSC to pay
“microscopic attention” to every detail
in the NYRI application. If they do, said
Dote, their only conclusion can be
“Not in New York, Not now. Not ever.”
When asked by Sen. Ray Meier if
Clayville could be helped by the $30
million fund NYRI said it has
earmarked for communities, Dote
replied, “Only if they buy the entire
village and move everyone into new
homes elsewhere.”
Dr. Les Roberts, an epidemiologist,
professor and formerly of the Centers
for Disease Control said he believed
NYRI’s contention there are no known
health risks posed by power lines like
the ones it proposes to build to be
“delusional”. He said that he was
convinced there was a link between
high voltage power lines and
childhood leukemia.
Roberts also criticized NYRI’s choice
of routes. He said it seems the
company has what he called a “bizarre
notion” that because the proposed
line would follow a railroad right of way
that it mitigates contact with people.
“This is absurd placement,” for a
power line, said Roberts. He said it
appeared the line “maximizes human
exposure through Madison and
Chenango counties.”
About 400 people attended the
hearing.
Posted 2006.7.17