Red Flag
Readers considering the possibilities of wind turbines in Richmondville and Fulton should check out Patsy Nicosia's story, in last week's T-J, about forming a local power company. It sheds a little more light - unwanted, we're sure, on Reunion Power, the company trying to build the turbines.
Ms. Nicosia's story is mostly about County Treasurer, Bill Cherry's, idea of creating a power company that could provide low-cost electric power. Mr. Cherry is intrigued with the idea and so are we, because it would reduce energy costs for all and provide local jobs besides. Mr. Cherry was so intrigued, in fact, that he pursued the plan with an Albany County legislator who wanted to join in; and he prepared a resolution for the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors. But then Mr.
Cherry learned that the Albany County legislator, Sandy Gordon, was with Reunion Power - except Mr. Gordon never revealed the Reunion link.
So here's the situation: An Albany legislator cozying up to our County Treasurer, interested in Schoharie County power, and he's with a private company that wants to come into Schoharie County. How many conflicts of interest can you find in this picture? It would have been so simple for Mr. Grodon to tell Mr. Cherry at the outset, "By the way, Bill, there's something you should know". But he didn't.
All this makes us wonder what else Reunion and its principals have left unsaid. This concern touches on our original thoughts about Reunion, going back six months or more: Reunion is a fledgling power company, about which we know nothing, that wants to put its first project in Schoharie County. There's no track record, no resume, no glowing list of successful projects, no nothing. And now Mr. Gordon causes us to raise yet another red flag.
Mr. Cherry did the right thing by putting his plan on hold once he found the Reunion tie-in. We hope he pursues the local power angle, assuming it's minus Reunion and Mr. Gordon.
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