News stories tagged with "utility"

(02/15/10) A Canadian company hopes to build a massive new electric transmission line that will use the Champlain and Hudson Valleys to bring power from Quebec to New York City. Transmission Developers Incorporated, based in Toronto, is asking state regulators in New York to approve the use of a type of cable that can be buried underwater. As Brian Mann reports, the technology would mean fewer impacts on communities and landscapes in the North Country. more

(10/29/07) Congressman McHugh was in Wilmington on Saturday to unveil aggressive new legislation designed to cut acid rain and reduce green house gases. McHugh says he'll formally introduce the bill today in Washington. If passed and signed into law, it would force electric utilities to sharply reduce smokestack emissions from big coal-burning plants in the Midwest. A similar measure proposed by Governor Spitzer would cut smokestack emissions here in New York state. Pro-environment groups praised the measures. But as Brian Mann reports, Congressman McHugh's bill faces a tough fight in Washington.

(10/29/07) On Friday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by New York Regional Interconnect, the company that hopes to build a massive new high-power electric transmission line from Utica south. Martha Foley has more.

(03/31/06) Last month, a powerful windstorm plowed through New York state, knocking out electricity to more than 300,000 homes and businesses. National Grid customers in the Champlain Valley and the eastern Adirondacks struggled without power for days. With temperatures plunging to minus-20 degrees Fahrenheit, emergency shelters were opened in a half-dozen towns. National Grid officials have defended their response to the storm. But many local government leaders say the company was understaffed and under prepared. The state's Public Service Commission is investigating those complaints. At a hearing yesterday in Ticonderoga, residents complained that National Grid has allowed the North Country's electrical grid to fall into disrepair. Brian Mann was there and has our story.

(07/03/01) New legislation to makes it easier to find places to build new power plants in New York. Karen DeWitt reports.

(04/13/01) Karen Dewitt concludes her series on New York's electric industry - today - the future of deregulation, the building of new power plants, and will prices go higher?

(04/12/01) When de-regulation started in New York in the mid-1990's, proponents predicted that by the turn of the century, New Yorkers would choose their power supplier as easily as they choose their long distance phone service. That hasn't happened yet. Karen Dewitt looks at why.

(02/22/01) Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation has been fined $900,000 for allowing excessive smoke emissions from four upstate power plants that it used to own. NiMo officials say the fine will be paid by the company's shareholders, not ratepayers. Brian Mann has more.

(02/15/01) The task force representing St. Lawrence County and its communities in the relicensing of the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project began preparing its endgame strategy for negotiations with the New York Power Authority. After taking criticism for keeping talks behind closed doors in the past, the task force held a public meeting in Waddington last night. As David Sommerstein reports, as the deadline approaches, the group may be opening its tent to more interests to improve its bargaining position.

(02/05/01) In the United States, we generally associate power outages with thunderstorms or downed power lines. In the North Country, we think of the Ice Storm. But the blackouts in California the past few weeks have us worrying about something we generally associate with other countries: a crisis in the whole system that brings us electricity. Utilities in New York are confident there's enough electricity being produced here to avoid California's problems. But deregulation and restructuring of the late 90's has created an uncertain power landscape. Many communities are trying to take control of their electric service, but as David Sommerstein reports, one group in the North Country says say the new world of electricity distribution has put up a brick wall, and they're going to the federal level for help.