Today, the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment met in Albany to issue its very first “Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need Pursuant to Article 10 to Construct a Wind Energy Project,” the Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACE NY) has announced.
The 126 MW Cassadaga Wind Project, comprising up to 48 wind turbines, will be located in Chautauqua County in the towns of Charlotte, Cherry Creek, Arkwright and Stockton. According to a press release from the siting board, the wind farm will interconnect to New York’s electrical grid along the Dunkirk-Moon transmission line.
ACE NY says the project has been under development since 2009 by Everpower Renewables, which submitted its first Article 10 filing, the Public Involvement Program, in November 2014. The Preliminary Scoping Statement was submitted in September 2015, and the application was submitted in May 2016. The siting board requested public comments on the proposed project in January 2017.
In August 2011, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law Chapter 388 of the Laws of 2011, enacting Article 10, which provides for the siting review of new, repowered or modified major electric generating facilities in New York State by the siting board in a unified proceeding instead of requiring the developer/owner to apply for state and local permits. A list of other submitted wind projects can be found here.
“Today’s important milestone follows a comprehensive multiyear review process,” comments Anne Reynolds, executive director of ACE NY. “Approval of the Cassadaga Wind Farm is the first under the 2011 siting law and will set the bar for future energy projects. We are pleased that the first project has reached the end of the review process since New York is striving to achieve its ambitious 50 percent renewable energy by 2030 goal.”
