Gabryszak joins action to get power proceeds
Announces legislation seeking funds for WNY
An assemblyman from Cheektowaga is the latest to jump aboard a movement to get millions of dollars in hydropower proceeds allocated for economic development in the region.
Assemblyman Dennis H. Gabryszak, DCheektowaga, on Saturday announced he has formally introduced a power proceeds bill in Albany that is getting bipartisan support from the Western New York delegation.
“This legislation is very significant to Western New York,” Gabryszak said. “It represents the opportunity to attract business and create jobs.”
The bill piggybacks on legislation filed in April by U. S. Rep. Brian Higgins, requiring the New York Power Authority to turn over future proceeds from the sale of unused power to a locally controlled economic development corporation.
Gov. David A. Paterson in May said he has embraced the concept in principle, and ordered Power Authority President Richard Kessel to report to him within 60 days on details.
The bill announced by Gabryszak, who serves on the Assembly’s energy committee, shows that the idea continues to move ahead, although he was unsure how quickly, considering the recent chaos in Albany with the Senate.
Some 695 megawatts of power are set aside for industry within 30 miles of the Niagara Power Project. Almost all of that power had been sold off at a deep discount, until the early part of this decade when several major customers closed or scaled back operations.
As much as 21 percent of that power has gone unused each year since 2006, so the Power Authority sells it on the open market and keeps the proceeds. The unused power fetched the authority an estimated $161 million from 2005 through 2008, including $45 million last year, The Buffalo News reported in April.
Like Higgins’ proposal, the Gabryszak legislation calls for the unused power to be sold, but the proceeds would go into the Western New York Economic Development Fund to help create jobs and spur development locally — either enticing new business to the region, improving infrastructure or cleaning up brownfields.
The Western New York Advisory Group — a body of local development agencies that recommend power allocations to the Power Authority — would solicit and review applications for grants from the fund, Gabryszak said.
Higgins commended Gabryszak and state lawmakers for their commitment to this fight.
“Our lake feeds the river that fuels the power generated by the falls,” Higgins said. “That power, and the profits from the power, were intended to benefit this community, and we need to stand up together and claim what is naturally ours.”
Gabryszak made the announcement Saturday in Cheektowaga alongside colleagues Sen. William Stachowski, D-Lake View, Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, and Assemblywoman Francine Del- Monte, D-Lewiston, as well as Andrew Rudnick, president of Buffalo Niagara Partnership.
“Hydropower designated for use within 30 miles surrounding the Niagara Power Project must stay in the region — period,” Rudnick said. “That means the power itself and the proceeds derived from the sale of the power.”
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