Wind PILOT

The payment-in-lieu-of-taxes plan for the Galloo Island Wind Farm was not supposed to be a model for other wind power projects. Yet that is what's happening in the debate over a zoning law regulating wind power developments in the town of Cape Vincent.

There, the terms of the Galloo Island PILOT plan are being used to estimate possible PILOT payments for BP Alternative Energy's 124-megawatt project in a debate over the town's proposal to regulate noise levels.

It is a consequence of the JCIDA's failure to follow the intent of the Legislature. But county lawmakers are not blameless. They share in the responsibiliy for approving the Galloo Island PILOT for Upstate NY Power Corp. instead of rejecting it until the JCIDA complied with the Legislature's directions.

The JCIDA has insisted all along that the 20-year Galloo Island PILOT presented for later approval by the county Legislature was specific to that project. However, the JCIDA ignored the county's original instructions to come up with a model that would be applied to all wind power projects.

No PILOT has been negotiated for the Cape Vincent project, but the developer's reliance on the Galloo plan to project payments to municipalities is a troubling sign that it will be presumed as the basis for the future talks. The exception is becoming the standard. That shouldn't surprise anyone. Developers will want nothing less than the preferential treatment other projects receive as a matter of fairness.

That would be avoidable if the JCIDA had done what was expected of it. Before it goes any further, the county Legislature must put a halt to the speculation. Where is Kenneth Blankenbush, chairman of the county Legislature? He should immediately lead the board through a discussion of its mistakes. Then the Legislature should rescind the Galloo Island PILOT and replace it with a tax exemption policy that does not grant more than developers are entitled to by law.