December 3—BRASHER – The State Board on Electrical Technology Siting and Surroundings will meet at 10:30 am Wednesday to contemplate a petition for rehearing filed by the North Aspect Power Heart.
The assembly might be seen at www.dps.ny.gov/Webcasts.html.
Photo voltaic electrical producing services are deliberate for growth within the cities of Brasher, Norfolk and Massena. Nevertheless, its plans hit a snag in August when the siting board denied the North Aspect Power Heart’s request to construct a 180-megawatt photo voltaic farm. They mentioned the proposed challenge will have an effect on threatened and endangered species.
Decide Maureen F. Leary of the Division of Public Service Administrative Regulation really helpful the denial throughout a presentation to the sitting board. He cited a number of points with the challenge’s failure to handle the affected wetlands.
“At this time, after due consideration of an advisory workers session, the sitting board has earlier than it at the moment a proposed order denying the issuance of a certificates for the North Aspect Photo voltaic Power challenge as a result of as a result of the file exhibits that the challenge isn’t within the public curiosity,” mentioned Decide Leary. “In reality, the board’s denial is predicated on the applicant’s failure to reveal that the challenge meets the obligatory standards of Public Service Regulation Part 1683 to the extent that the file fails to reveal that the challenge as proposed minimizes and avoids hostile environmental impacts to the utmost extent doable, together with impacts on freshwater wetlands and threatened and endangered species.”
The challenge, as designed, he added, “fails to adjust to the relevant and substantive necessities of state environmental legal guidelines and laws, together with the precise Environmental Conservation Act 11, which governs the safety of endangered and endangered species and their habitat, and ECL Article 24, which governs the safety of freshwater wetlands.”
With out the mandatory findings, he mentioned the siting board “can not conclude that the challenge is within the public curiosity.”
After the ruling, the North Aspect Power Heart mentioned they’re evaluating their subsequent steps.
“North Aspect Power Heart is conscious of, and disillusioned by, the sitting board’s determination. We’re evaluating our subsequent steps at the moment,” mentioned NextEra Power Sources spokesman Matt Eissey in an e-mail.
The developer has the choice of looking for a rehearing and interesting the siting board’s determination or submitting a brand new software.
NextEra Power Sources, by way of its subsidiary North Aspect Power Heart, is proposing to develop, construct, personal and function a photo voltaic facility that may produce 180 megawatts of electrical energy. It has a development interval of about 12 to 14 months, beginning later this yr till 2023.
The 180-megawatt photo voltaic power middle shall be situated on land leased or bought from personal property homeowners within the cities of Brasher, Norfolk and Massena. Mission elements embrace commercial-scale photo voltaic arrays; entry roads; buried, and doable overhead energy assortment traces; a challenge assortment substation; and electrical interconnection services.
The vast majority of the challenge – 90% – is slated to be situated in Brasher.
Though the challenge space is 2,200 hectares, the precise photo voltaic facility space covers 961 hectares. The corporate works with native landowners to realize entry to the challenge website, however the land continues to be owned by the landowners.
