CHERRY VALLEY – Energy created by the proposed 24 wind turbines will be fed back to Cherry Valley residents where the proposal is located, according to representatives of the project at a recent open house forum. Since the proposal was introduced, one of the major problems with the deal was that the energy would not be of local use. Instead, plans were to feed the national grid, and ship the energy down state, away from the residents and upstater’s whose community will be home to the towering turbines that will pepper the otherwise undisturbed natural horizon. Last week, Reunion Power hosted an open house forum in an effort to bring residents information that might soften the controversy and ease some of their concerns. “We want to work cooperatively with the town. We’re listening to the people,” said James DiStefano, vice president of Energetix, an energy service company working with NYSEG (New York State Electric and Gas). Since the energy cannot be sold directly to the residents, according to Steve Eisenberg, Reunion Power’s managing director, NYSEG would contract with them and supply the energy, with National Grid actually delivering the energy. Samples of a typical energy bill showed a nearly 50 percent reduction in each homeowner’s energy costs. Businesses would be exempt from the offer. People currently living and owning a home within the community would benefit, and more than likely people moving into the community would benefit from the offer, but that would have to be further discussed, officials noted. Residents will still receive one bill, and if they use less than the average usage they will have a zero charge for usage (excluding delivery charges and the normal associated fees from National Grid). If they use more, they will save throughout the year a maximum of $480 – the allowable limit set by the National Grid market rate. “People were trying to make a connection between the wind farm and their electric bill,” said David Little, project manager for Reunion Power. “Now we will bring it to Cherry Valley through an agreement. There will be a sign up period for residents, and they will be able to sign up or call. We’ll submit the applications to National Grid and they will decide when the customer will transfer over.” This is an unprecedented offer, officials said, with no other community tapping into the wind resource offered by turbine projects in their area, possibly throughout the state. A projected savings of $35.25 million over the life of the project was presented to the public, with that broken down into $7.5 million in PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) payments for the first 1-20 years, $5.25 million in Property Tax Payments, for the following five years, electricity benefits of $7.5 million, lease payments to the landowners and neighbors of $12 million and local salary, benefits and rent and taxes in related operations of the wind farm, totaling $3 million. Opponents of the project told the Mercury prior to the event that they would not attend the meeting, viewing it as just another attempt to persuade people to support the project.
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