Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories

Grisanti introduces legislation to expand radius for low-cost power

by jmaloni

Submitted

Wed, Aug 20th 2014 11:50 am

State senator proposes all of Erie County should be eligible for Power Proceeds funding

State Sen. Mark Grisanti introduced legislation today (S.7935) that would expand the boundaries of the Power Proceeds Allocation Act funding program to include all of Erie County. This expansion would allow eligible businesses and not-for-profits in all of Erie County to apply for power at a reduced cost.

"Currently, to be considered for Power Proceeds, applicants must be within a 30-mile radius from the Lewiston Power Plant. Unfortunately, that cuts out areas like Evans and Brant that are located in the 60th Senate District," Grisanti said. "(These are) businesses and not-for-profits in my district that could benefit from the power proceeds by expanding and creating jobs."

"I recently toured a number of businesses and farms in the south towns who expressed an interest in expanding and creating new, good-paying jobs," he said. "But when I checked to see if they could benefit from the program, I learned they were outside the area. In some cases, they were just a few miles outside of the boundary."

The Power Proceeds Allocation Act was created in 2012. Proceeds are comprised of the net earnings from the New York Power Authority's market sale of unutilized expansion and replacement power, which are two low-cost power programs associated with the Niagara Power Project.

The current Power Proceeds map for the 30-mile zone within Erie County omits areas such as parts of Evans, Brant, Eden, Aurora, North Collins and Marilla. The pending legislation would include all of Erie County to be eligible for funding.

Hometown News

View All News