ALBANY — The New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment (Siting Board) today announced it would hold public statement hearings in the Village of Windsor, to receive comments on Bluestone Wind LLC’s proposal to construct a wind energy project in the Towns of Windsor and Sanford, Broome County.

The proposed project consists of the construction and operation of a commercial-scale wind power project, including the installation and operation of up to 33 wind turbines (29 in the Town of Sanford and 4 in the Town of Windsor), together with associated underground collection lines, access roads, two permanent meteorological towers, and an operation and maintenance building in the Town of Sanford.  A collection substation will be located in Sanford at the end of the project’s 34.5-kilovolt collection system and will include a 10-megawatt battery storage system. A second substation will be located at the point of interconnection, adjacent to an existing New York State Electric and Gas transmission line.  The two substations will be connected by a 200-foot long span of overhead 115-kilovolt transmission line.

Opportunities for public information and comment will be held, as follows:

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Village of Windsor
Windsor Community House Meeting Room
107 Main Street
Windsor, NY 13865

2 P.M. and 6 P.M. – Information Forums
3 P.M. and 7 P.M. – Public Statement Hearings

During the scheduled information forums, the examiners, Administrative Law Judges Sean Mullany, of the Department of Public Service, and Daniel P. O’Connell, of the Department of Environmental Conservation, will provide an overview of the Siting Board’s certification process.  Bluestone will then present a brief description of the project and will have maps of the project area available for viewing.  Members of the public will then have an opportunity to pose questions about the siting review process and the Bluestone application that is currently pending before the Siting Board.

Those wishing to comment on Bluestone’s proposal to construct its project will have the opportunity to make a statement on the record at the public statement hearing.  It is not necessary to make an appointment in advance, or to present written material in order to speak at the hearing.  Any person wishing to provide a public statement must complete a request card.  The examiners will then use the request cards to call each person who has requested an opportunity to provide a statement.  The examiners will continue the hearing for at least one hour, or until everyone wishing to speak has been heard or other reasonable arrangements have been made.  A verbatim transcript of the hearing will be made for inclusion in the record of this case.

Persons with disabilities requiring reasonable accommodations should contact the Department of Public Service’s Human Resources Management Office at (518) 474-2520 as soon as possible. TDD users may request a sign language interpreter by placing a call through the New York Relay Service at 711. Individuals with difficulty understanding or reading English are encouraged to call the Department at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.

Other Ways to Comment

For those who cannot attend or prefer not to speak at a public statement hearing, there are several other ways to comment about this case to the Siting Board. Comments should refer to “Case 16-F-0559, Bluestone Wind.” Comments will be accepted throughout the pendency of this proceeding, but they are requested by February 28, 2019.

Via the Internet: Comments may be entered directly into the case file from the Department of Public Service website, www.dps.ny.gov, by clicking on “Search” at the top of the page and then entering “16-F-0559” into the “Search by Case Number” field. In the open case, access the screen to enter comments by clicking on the “Post Comments” box at the top right of the page.

Email or Mail: Comments may be submitted via email to Hon. Kathleen H. Burgess, Secretary, at secretary@dps.ny.gov, or by mail or delivery to Secretary Burgess at the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350.

Toll-Free Opinion Line: Comments may be submitted by calling the Department of Public Service's Opinion Line at 1- 800-335-2120. This number is set up to take comments about pending cases from in-State callers, 24-hours a day. Telephonic comments are not transcribed verbatim, but a summary is provided to the presiding examiners who will report to the Siting Board.

All written comments will become part of the record considered by the Siting Board and may be accessed on the Department of Public Service website by searching the case number, as described above, and clicking on the “Public Comments” tab.

Bluestone’s application to the Siting Board may be also viewed online at the Department of Public Service website at www.dps.ny.gov.  Click the “Search” button on the home page and then enter “16-F-0559” in the space provided for searching by case number.  Hard copies of the Bluestone application can be found at the Windsor Library and the Deposit Free Library.