To the Editor:
Efforts continue in the Hudson Valley to delay and/or block construction of the 1.25 billion-watt Blackstone-owned Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) transmission corridor (powerlines).

CHPE cables would run 339 miles from the Canadian-New York border in Clinton County to Astoria in Queens, with 200 miles shallowly buried under Lake Champlain and the Hudson, Harlem, and East rivers, at least 10 miles under cement covers on the Hudson River bed, and 100-plus miles on land in Clinton, Washington, Saratoga, Schenectady, Albany, Greene, Rockland, and Queens counties.

On Mach16, the Ulster County Legislature unanimously passed Resolution #108, urging the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency to deny CHPE developers payment in lieu of taxes for the CHPE project. County officials said CHPE staff are unwilling to discuss how 18.5 miles of CHPE cables would impact Ulster County river-fronting communities.

The resolution noted CHPE is requesting PILOTs in 13 of the 15 New York State counties CHPE would traverse or border; full CHPE taxes in Ulster County would total $94 million over 30 years, and CHPE seeks a PILOT of $29 million, “causing additional [CHPE] profit of $65 million in Ulster County alone.” CHPE developers often tout CHPE’s supposed economic benefits to upstate New York while quietly seeking giant tax breaks.

On March 9, the town of Bethlehem, under threat of a CHPE lawsuit, signed road use and community benefit agreements, allowing burial of CHPE cables in the town. The vote was 3 to 1 with Maureen Cunningham voting “no” and fellow board member, Joyce Becker, who opposes the agreements, unexpectedly absent due to circumstances beyond her control.

During public comments prior to the vote, several spoke in opposition including long-time advocate Paul Tick. Paul also read an opposition letter from Albany County legislator Bill Reinhardt.

During the meeting, Ms. Cunningham asked two CHPE officials many questions, and then made a lengthy, passionate statement opposing CHPE and the resolutions.

CHPE officials discussed the four-tiered corporate structure: CHPE Properties at the bottom; CHPE LLC above it; Transmission Developers Inc., a Delaware-based corporation, second highest; and Blackstone, owning 90 percent of CHPE, at the top.

Ms. Cunningham said she has worked at UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] heritage sites and desires the Hudson River to become one; older people often tell her they saw plenty of trash floating in the Hudson 50 years ago, and PCBs remain in the river, flood plain, and fish; CHPE is a foreign multinational conglomerate with hard-to-discern multiple layers; and CHPE is a dirty hydro project and not renewable energy.

She read a Quebec First Nations letter opposing CHPE, and asked “Do we only care about environmental justice in our nation?”

From a New York City-based environmental justice coalition, she read that CHPE installation would not result in the retirement of filthy peeker electricity stations in Queens and the Bronx, rebutting a key Blackstone assertion.

Ulster and Dutchess county legislators, she said, are increasingly opposing CHPE, and Albany County legislators are taking notice. On the prior day, she said, New York Governor Kathy Hochul spoke in Bethlehem and said New York should not rely on any foreign energy sources [“At Plug Power groundbreaking, Hochul calls for energy independence,” The Altamont Enterprise, March 8, 2022].

Ms. Cunningham said the New York State government could have chosen from the many better alternatives to CHPE, and urged the town to schedule a public hearing and postpone any vote until Joyce Becker was  present.

Prior to her statement, the town attorney said towns examine local impacts, and, if Bethlehem voted “no” for reasons unrelated to local zoning, CHPE could challenge that decision in court and probably win, resulting in Bethlehem losing its considerable control over where and how CHPE would be built through Bethlehem.

Tom Ellis

Albany

Editor’s note: In a 4-to-1 vote, the Guilderland Town Board on Aug. 4, 2020 passed a resolution that will let the Champlain Hudson Power Express Inc. run underground lines through the town to bring electric power from Canada to the New York City area.