An application to have the federal government guarantee NYRI's investors a 13.5 percent return on their investment has been deemed incomplete by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In a four-page letter dated May 13, FERC's Larry D. Gasteiger, director of the Division of Tariffs and Market, cited several deficiencies in the application.
``NYRI explains that it has begun to expend substantial funds on initial-stage project development such as engineering, consulting, legal and regulatory fees, and that such costs qualify for capitalization and AFUDC (allowance for funds used during construction) treatment,'' he wrote. ``Please explain the nature of these costs.''
The letter continues with requests for other financial details about this proposed electric transmission project, which would route power from Marcy in Oneida County to New Windsor in Orange County. The purpose of the project, according to company spokesmen, is to provide the New York City area with relatively low-cost power from upstate New York, especially at times of peak demand.
The project, proposed to run through parts of Chenango and Delaware counties, would raise the price of wholesale electricity in much of upstate New York.
New York Regional Interconnect, Inc. has applied to the New York State Public Service Commission for permission to build the project, and that application is incomplete as well. The firm is also seeking federal approval because the 2005 federal Energy Policy Act permits FERC to overrule state regulators in some instances if state regulators have not issued permits.
In an e-mail to The Daily Star on Monday, David Kalson, a spokesman for NYRI, said the firm will soon complete its federal application.
``NYRI is furnishing the requested info to FERC, and that information will be submitted to FERC within the next week or two,'' he wrote.
Last month, Reps. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, and John Hall, D-Dover Plains, and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., wrote to FERC and asked the agency to dismiss NYRI's petition.
``The House members and the senator said the rate incentives amount to nothing more than an unnecessary and exorbitant subsidy of a project that's not even wanted or needed by New York residents in the first place,'' a statement issued by Arcuri's office reads.
FERC's finding that NYRI's application was incomplete was seized upon by NYRI's opponents as evidence the company is inept.
``This is nothing new for NYRI," wrote Chris Rossi, co-chairwoman of STOP NYRI Inc. ``Twice they have applied to the state Public Service Commission only to have their applications returned because they were not complete and properly documented.
``Is this the kind of company we want building 130-foot-tall steel towers to support 400,000-volt electrical lines through the backyards of families and through the business districts of our communities?'' she continued.
It is not, she wrote.
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