Higgins eyes profits of Power Project
Proposal seeks more for local development
Rep. Brian Higgins has upped the ante in his quest to get profits generated at the Niagara Power Project earmarked for local economic development.
Monday, he released a proposal that calls for the New York Power Authority to dedicate 36 percent of the plant’s profits — which he estimates at $65 million a year — and a list of projects he would like to see funded with the money. Much of the work in Erie County would involve the expansion of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and improvements to cultural institutions.
“It’s not theirs, it’s ours,” the Buffalo Democrat said of the revenue that comes from the nation’s second-largest hydropower plant, located in Lewiston.
Richard Kessel, president of the New York Power Authority, was noncommittal on the proposal.
“I am committed to doing something significant for Western New York in terms of making sure it gets [greater] benefits from the plant,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s worthwhile to get into a public debate [on the specifics], and I’m not going to negotiate this in the press.”
The Higgins proposal is a departure from one he initiated two months ago, which was affirmed Saturday by members of the local delegation to the State Legislature.
That measure, involving a bill Higgins submitted in Congress and companion legislation submitted in the Assembly, would require the Power Authority to turn over the proceeds of unused power allocated for local industry that was sold on the open market at a considerable markup. The authority has pocketed the proceeds, which The Buffalo News estimated at $161 million from 2003 to 2007.
Presently, about 21 percent of that power is not being used, but if the authority does find takers — and historically, it has — the proceeds could dwindle.
That would not be the case with Higgins’ latest proposal, as it is pegged on the Niagara Power Project’s overall profitability, regardless of how much discounted electricity earmarked for local industry goes begging for customers.
About one-third of the plant’s generating capacity is earmarked for local industry, hence the congressman’s call for 36 percent of the profits, which have soared in recent years. Last year, the plant cleared a record $205 million, providing the authority nearly 70 percent of its profits.
Higgins’ proposal assumes the region would receive $336 million in the first five years. About 60 percent of the money would be spent in Erie County, with most of the balance in Niagara County.
He proposed how the money would be spent in Erie County. Work includes infrastructure to facilitate the construction of middle-income housing on Buffalo’s outer harbor, completion of the Darwin Martin House and construction of a new golf course adjacent to South Park to enable the restoration of the Olmsted park.
“I want to get this jump-started with projects that the cultural and arts community has determined are priorities,” he said Monday.
Higgins’ proposal calls for the creation of a commission made up of elected officials, business leaders and other community activists to ultimately decide how the new funding would be spent.
Higgins said the timing of his proposal, one day after The Buffalo News reported on $39.8 million in bonuses paid to Power Authority employees from 1999 to 21007, is coincidental. But he also noted that the bonuses are symptomatic of a larger problem — the authority’s failure to help the region that subsidizes its existance.
“We have to keep the pressure on,” he said. “This is real money, the kind of investment that can transform Western New York.”
Kessel said he expects to make recommendations to Gov. David A. Paterson over the summer.
pfairbanks@buffnews.com and jheaney@buffnews.com
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