Yesterday 6/6/07 an Evidentiary Hearing was conducted by a Department of Public Service (DPS) Law Judge in Bath. The hearing was held because Cohocton Wind Watch and Advocates for Prattsburgh, two groups advocating for the proper siting of industrial wind turbines to protect the health and safety of residents of the State of New York, had objected to the request by UPC Wind for a certificate of necessity from the PSC. Earlier a Commissioner had denied UPC’s request for expedited review and ordered the hearing.
Testimony was submitted by UPC employees and consultants as well as Cohocton Wind Watch and Advocates for Prattsburgh. The Town of Naples and NYSEG were also involved as intervenors in the hearing.
The two central issues of the hearing were the Clipper Liberty 2.5MW turbines and their certification and reliability to provide safe energy as well as the design and layout of the substations for the Cohocton Wind project and the 115kv transmission lines.
Under oath it was stated repeatedly that the project is still in the design stage. There are many issues still not resolved with components of the project. Largely permission from landowners for the overhead transmission lines is causing problems with the layout. There may also be a problem with turbine leases not being obtained and filed in a legal manner. UPC was lacking many of the documents that the PSC staff had requested from them. At one point the issue of a report possibly being too costly to provide was discussed by Mr. Swartley. The company also claims not to have the results of geological tests conducted at the turbine sites available at this time. Wind data as well as turbine reliability information is confidential according to testimony.
The hearing seems to have raised more questions than answers. Since the project is not yet finalized it would seem many more site plan reviews and public hearings may yet to be conducted.
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