Wind developers at the Galloo Island are still pushing for their wind farm island to be New York's first "offshore wind" project. Nancy Madsen at Watertown Daily Times reports that lobbying for Galloo Island continues, even though the head of the state's power authority has said he's not going to grant the project a key power-purchasing agreement:
Attorneys for Upstate NY Power Corp. have talked to local officials and at least the chairmen, if not the members, of the state Assembly and Senate Energy Committees. "Upstate Power is committed to bringing clean renewable power, economic benefits, and jobs to the area," its representative, Robert W. Burgdorf, an attorney with Nixon Peabody in Rochester, said in an e-mail. "As part of that effort, it routinely briefs legislators who share these important goals.
Ditch that fridge
New York's "Great Appliance Swapout" is back. Have a ratty old refrigerator that you want to replace? The state still had about $835,000 worth of $50 and $75 rebates for new appliances as of yesterday morning, reports Eric Anderson at the Times Union's Buzz blog. That's out of a total pool of $1 million. Want to take advantage of the offer? Here are the rules.
Drilling in the Delaware basin
About 250 people showed up for a hearing about natural gas development in the Delaware River Basin on Tuesday, reports Jon Campbell at the Press & Sun-Bulletin:
A pair of hearings were held both in the Town of Liberty and in Wayne County, Pa., on Tuesday, with the commission set to host another pair in Trenton, N.J., later this month. The commission is a partnership between the four Delaware River watershed states -- New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware -- and the federal government to regulate and oversee the river. The proposed drilling regulations were put out in December and are open for written public comment until March 16, though Deputy Executive Director Robert Tudor said Tuesday the commission may extend the comment period. About 36 percent of the basin sits atop the Marcellus Shale. The draft rules would require any gas well to be built at least 500 feet away from any bodies of water, a distance that was criticized as both too far and too close. "Don't let 500 feet be the difference between prosperity and economic despair for landowners," said Town of Windsor Supervisor Randy Williams, who pledged his support for landowner's rights.
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