New York's Renewable Incentives Should be Kept in New York
State Must Deny Attempt to Crush NYS Renewable Resources
with Subsidized Canadian Hydropower
Albany, N.Y., 11/14/13 - The Independent Power Producers of New York, Inc. (IPPNY) has told the state's Public Service Commission (PSC) that New York should not be in the business of using New York ratepayer funds to subsidize Canadian government-owned power resources - an act that would put at risk the environmental and economic benefits provided by existing and new renewable resources here in New York. In its comments submitted to the PSC this week on the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) 2013 Review documents, IPPNY opposed H.Q. Energy Services U.S. Inc.'s proposal for New York State incentives to subsidize the Canadian Government's hydroelectric plants for the likely importation of this power into New York over the yet-to-be-built Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) merchant transmission line to link Quebec, Canada with New York City.
IPPNY President & CEO Gavin J. Donohue said the proposal to incentivize foreign government-owned renewable projects creates an un-level playing field, which prioritizes already subsidized investments over that of our state's companies, who greatly benefit the state's economy in terms of jobs and taxes. "New York should not approve incentives to subsidize out-of-country, government-owned projects that would be given unfair leverage over new and existing New York State resources. Our diverse energy portfolio in this state has been the backbone of reliability, and the PSC needs to ensure that our rich tradition of private investment in varied technologies continues to the benefit of the electricity system without additional costs to ratepayers."
Attempts to subsidize power from hydroelectric plants of the Canadian Government to be imported over the CHPE line are unfair to New York companies and would set a bad precedent of aiding an out-of-country entity at the expense of this state's ratepayers. With the upstate economy already suffering, New York should not further erode investment confidence by this state's entities.
Also in its comments, IPPNY pointed out that the investments in renewable energy resources through the RPS Main Tier are the most cost-effective manner to obtain these resources. Having both existing and new renewable energy resource projects in New York State be able to access RPS funding helps ensure that the progress toward the RPS goal is maintained.
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The Independent Power Producers of New York, Inc. (IPPNY) is an Albany-based trade association representing the competitive power supply industry in New York State. IPPNY Members generate over 75 percent of New York's electricity using a wide variety of generating technologies and fuels including hydro, nuclear, wind, coal, oil, natural gas and biomass.
