MORRISTOWN, NY - State lawmakers Assemblywoman Addie Russell and Sen. Darrel Aubertine have introduced legislation to the Assembly and Senate respectively that would create the North Country Power Authority.

The bill, A06694A/S2813 is intended to help St. Lawrence and Franklin counties create a common bloc organization representing 24 municipalities in the counties in order to gain negotiating power with respect to the purchase or production of energy.

St. Lawrence and Franklin counties lag behind the rest of the State in progression and growth of the economy.  Aubertine indicates that one primary reason for this is the high cost of electric services to both residential and commercial customers.

Creation of a governing authority for the region would allow not only the negotiation of power purchases from a large cohesive customer bloc but also allow the Power Authority to construct, own, finance, and operate its own electrical generation plants.  The legislation provides for the authority to issue finance bonds, sell excess power if available, and handle incentives to businesses in a similar manner to the New York Power Authority.

While a good measure of the New York Power Authorities energy is generated here in St. Lawrence County, most of it is funneled directly downstate.  A North Country Power Authority could act without the conflict of interests that tangle NYPA negotiations now.  Rather than acting 'for the good of the state,' their mandate would be to act 'for the good of the North Country' - allowing them to produce abundant power utilizing the numerous 'green' energy options available in Northern New York.  Whether they constructed or acquired wind farms, solar facilities, geothermal plants, hydroelectric dams, or even biofuel production, the minimal environmental impact is written into the bill - mandating the NCPA to produce power cleanly, provide efficient transmission, and reduce electrical costs to local consumers.

One noted catch.  The Authority proposed is not county-wide inclusive.  The towns of Massena and others served by an existing non-profit utility corporation would not be governed under this Authority unless they so choose though there'd be little incentive to do so.

The NY Alliance for Municipal Power, based in Canton, NY has been working towards this goal for more than 10 years. The current proposed legislation was essentially drafted by them on behalf of its 24 member municipalities.  While individually, these areas have the right to take control of their municipal power grid at any time through eminent domain, it would not be economically feasible to do so in towns like Russell where the population and tax base are insufficient to support its own electrical generation/distribution company.  Banding together, these towns and villages do form a group more than large enough to take advantage of this idea.. but they lack the legal authority to do so.

Robert Best, Chairman of the Alliance for Municipal Power, says that if the NCPA were enacted, they would purchase the distribution system (telephone poles, power lines, and so on) from National Grid and begin serving the customers in the area immediately.  His research shows that even purchasing the power on the open market the customer would likely see an immediate savings of at least 5%.  In addition to that, as a non-profit authority, they customers would no longer be required to pay many of the taxes now assessed on their bills - resulting in another immediate savings.

In the near future, the NCPA would be upgrading the local distribution infrastructure and instituting conservation methods to reduce consumption, further increasing the net savings to the customers.  In the long term, construction of their own power generation facilities could result in much more substantial and sustainable savings.

Townships in the counties that are not currently listed on the NCPA legislation would have the ability to opt-in at a later date through a relatively simple process.