Blenheim and Gilboa are the winners in a $70 million relicensing agreement announced Wednesday by the New York Power Authority for its Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Project, tax-exempt since its construction was authorized in 1969.
The NYPA and Schoharie County towns began negotiating the terms of the 50-year relicensing deal several years ago.
Just two weeks ago, those negotiations had reached an impasse.
But the agreement unveiled Wednesday calls for the NYPA to provide more than $70 million in benefits to the area over the next half-century.
Some $50 million will be shared between Blenheim and Gilboa.
The remaining $20 million will be used to enhance the county’s environmental and recreational assets, the NYPA said in a press release.
The $70 million is part of NYPA’s relicensing application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking approval for the Blenheim-Gilboa plant’s continued operation through 2069; the agreement is contingent on FERC’s issuance of that operating license.
A decision on the relicensing is expected in May 2019.
Blenheim Supervisor Don Airey called the negotiations, which began seven or eight years and three supervisors ago, with Bob Mann, long and arduous.
“But the way it’s structured, it should ensure Blenheim’s economic future for the next generation,” Mr. Mann said. “It’s a tremendous accomplishment.”
Blenheim’s share will go toward roads and safety, eliminating town debt, and reducing taxes, Mr. Airey said.
Equally important, he said, is that the agreement also promises Blenheim a seat at the table when it comes to negotiating flood mitigation for B-G, nearly breached during Hurricane Irene, with both the NYPA and New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Gilboa Supervisor Tony Van Glad echoed many of Mr. Airey’s words, even as other supervisors criticized the NYPA for ignoring the county’s other 14 towns, which also share in costs for things like Emergency Medical Services and roads; many are still struggling to recover from Irene’s flood waters, they said.
The agreement calls for annual payments of $500,000 to both Blenheim and Gilboa each year through 2069.
It also contains “an annual revenue-sharing provision that is worth a minimum of $25 million over the life of the new license,” NYPA said. “If the plant operates for an extended period of time without realizing a profit, mandatory payments will compensate the towns.”
In a separate relicensing agreement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, DEC, and the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the NYPA has also committed:
• $4 million for capital improvements at Mine Kill State Park.
• Continued protection and support of Lansing Manor.
• $1.5 million for two new habitat improvement projects in B-G’s upper reservoir for fisheries, including two new fish attraction structures.
• $2 million for “ecological enhancement measures” in the Schoharie Creek watershed.
• ”Revised operating procedures for Schoharie Creek outflows, along with a commitment to support the US Geological Service in its operation and maintenance of Schoharie Creek monitoring gauges, including the installation, operation and maintenance of seven new downstream gauges, for an annual cost of approximately $250,000.”
The gauges are used to monitor water levels during high-water events.