Brookfield in, Green Island Out, at Cohoes Falls

By Randy Koniowka

The Green Island Power Authority's plan for a 75 million dollar power generating facility at the Cohoes Falls has been denied by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Commission chose to reinstate the license to the Canada based Brookfield Power.

In it's decision, the Commission stated that; "the Cohoes Falls project as proposed by the Green Island Power Authority is not economically feasible and that the School Street Project (Brookfield) is best adapted to serve the public interest."

Julie Smith-Galvin, a spokesperson for Brookfield, said that they are pleased with the decision by FERC. "Throughout the entire process, we remained confident that the School Street project is the highest and best use of the Mohawk River, consistently balancing environmental, historical, public recreation, and power generation needs."

Galvin also stated that they are committed to Cohoes and the School Street site. "We have invested millions of dollars in upgrading the facility and surrounding grounds, including 22,000MWh in new generation, enough to power 3,000 New York homes."

GIPA Chairman Jack Brown said in a statement that, "The Capital Region has lost 100 megawatts of power, an opportunity to restore the Cohoes Falls, and the opportunity to use that power to bring jobs here. Waterways are public assets, and GIPA strongly believes that hydroelectric power generated on the Mohawk River should put the interests of the people of the Capital Region ahead of private shareholders of a foreign company."

The decision comes after an August 2009 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circut. The court decided in favor of GIPA's challenge on their denail of their application for a license at the School Street facility. The court mandated that FERC consider the Green Island project for the School Street site and remanded the matter for further proceedings.

Brookfield currently produces 4,000 megawatts of electricity in The United States, Canada and Brazil, mainly through wind and hydro methods. They operate 100 power generating facilities in the United States totaling 1,900 megawatts of capacity. They have been operating the School Street facility since 2002.