Senate passage means municipal
power closer to reality
With the approval of the North Country Power Authority legislation
(S.2813c) in Senate and the expected passage in the Assembly, municipalities
in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties are one step closer to developing
a municipal power system that will save residents and businesses
money on their energy bills.
“For over a decade now the Alliance for Municipal Power
(AMP) has been working to establish a municipal power system to provide
much needed low-cost power,” said Sen. Darrel Aubertine, who is
the ranking majority member of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications
Committee. “This is an exciting day for North Country homeowners,
renters and businesses who should see reduced energy bills going forward.”
Since the late 1990s, the AMP, based in Canton, has united the
interests of 24 towns and villages, and more than 95 supporting organizations—chambers
of commerce, colleges, schools, business development corporations, unions,
and more—to work toward a goal of providing low-cost municipal
power for economic development and a reduced cost of living for residents.
The Senator first introduced similar legislation as an Assemblyman and
brought it over to the Senate, where he has garnered bipartisan support
for the bill.
“Throughout his time in the Legislature, Senator Aubertine has
been a steadfast supporter of our efforts to lower energy rates for
residents and businesses in the 24 AMP communities,” said AMP
Chair Robert Best. “With today’s Senate action, we are even
closer to reaching our goal. It’s been a long road to this point,
but with the combination of strong support at the local level, and tremendous
leadership in Albany, we were always confident we could clear this critical
hurdle. We want to thank Senator Aubertine and all the sponsors
of the bill for their effort to move this legislation and their commitment
to helping AMP advance New York’s important energy goals.”
AMP Vice Chairman Wade Davis said, “Thanks to the leadership of
Senator Aubertine and all of our local elected representatives in Albany,
we are closer today to what we have been working for over many years—municipal
power that will significantly reduce rates and provide more reliable
service through local control. Towns, Villages, Libraries, Fire Districts,
Chambers of Commerce, and many other groups from across the region have
signed on in support of our goal and the Senate has come through again
to pass this important legislation.”
This legislation to create the North Country Power Authority would provide
AMP towns and villages in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties with the
ability to explore implementing owning and operating the transmission
and distribution of electric power over the next 10 years. This initiative
could provide thousands of New Yorkers with significantly reduced rates,
more reliable service, and local control. Preliminary studies indicate
the annual savings for rate-payers in the millions of dollars, as well
as an average system-wide rate reduction of 4 percent.
While towns and villages are allowed by law to form a municipal electric
company, the small and rural communities have opted to work together
to further reduce costs. AMP’s mission is to establish this regional
public power utility through the acquisition and operation of the existing
distribution system for communities within the AMP area.
AMP is comprised of the towns of Bombay, Fort Covington, Moira and Westville
in Franklin County, and towns of Brasher, Canton, Colton, DeKalb, Edwards,
Fowler, Gouverneur, Hermon, Lisbon, Louisville, Madrid, Norfolk, Pierrepont,
Potsdam, Russell, Stockholm, and Waddington and the Villages of Canton,
Norwood, and Potsdam in St. Lawrence County.
The legislation is sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblywoman Addie
Russell.
