Legislation sponsored by Tim Kennedy in support of Congressman Brian Higgins proposal for an inflation-protected $10 million settlement with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) for Buffalo and Erie County passed 14-1 in last Thursday’s legislative session.

“It is unfortunate that the only person to not vote in support of this resolution was Elise Cusack (R-Amherst) who was recently appointed a trustee to the NYPA,” Kennedy said. Kennedy also added that Cusack was in favor of the original resolution rejecting NYPA’s $2 Million settlement but has recently changed her mind.

“The resolution passed today clarified our affirmation for NYPA to engage in good-faith negotiations toward a fair and equitable settlement for the City of Buffalo and Erie County,” Kennedy stated, “This was in keeping with our original resolution which rejected NYPA's initial $2 million offer.”

“Congressman Brian Higgins has been at the forefront and doing a great job of leading this initiative with the support of a host of other local leaders,” Kennedy said, “There seems to be a mutual understanding that the City of Buffalo and Erie County are getting the short end of the stick considering the monies NYPA throws around downstate.”

The resolution demonstrated the tremendous annual revenue of NYPA and its lavish spending and finances in general.

According to the New York State Comptroller, NYPA has recently spent $5.5 million to purchase a second turboprop plane for the transportation of its executives, who total $20.3 million in salaries amongst the 160 of them.

NYPA has managed to pay off a total of $465 million in cost overruns in construction; $275 million going towards the construction of the Poletti Power Plant located in Queens, NY and $190 million more going towards 11 generators built in response to downstate blackouts.

They have recently spent a total of $95 million on fuel-efficient appliances for New York City Public Housing. They have also agreed to spend an additional $500 million on discretionary fuel-efficiency projects with the various government agencies and public authorities in Metropolitan New York City according to the minutes from their own Board of Trustees meetings in June 2005.

“As part of the re-licensing process before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,” Kennedy said, “the operator of hydroelectric plants are required to offer financial assistance to the host communities which are negatively impacted by the operation of their hydroelectric plants.”

“The remains of long abandoned industrial facilities you see on our waterfront are the negative impact,” Kennedy said, “The construction and operation of these buildings were made possible by Niagara hydropower. NYPA had previously offered to pay $2 million in remediation efforts, that is a far cry from a realistic cost to relieve our waterfront from eyesores that impede on future development.”

“We as a Legislature are in support of an increased settlement of $10 million plus interest to cover future inflation. This I believe this is a fair and equitable settlement,” said Kennedy.

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