ALBANY — The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today announced it would hold a public statement hearing and procedural conference in the Village of Silver Creek, to receive comments on Ball Hill Wind Energy, LLC’s (Ball Hill Wind) request for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for a planned wind electric generating facility in the Towns of Villenova and Hanover, Chautauqua County (Facility). Because Ball Hill Wind’s project was approved at the local level, the Commission’s main role is to determine whether the correct procedures were followed for that approval and whether the developer is financially viable to build and operate the project.

The Facility is expected to produce approximately 100 megawatts (MW) of electric generating capacity using wind turbines located in the Towns of Villenova and Hanover, Chautauqua County. The Facility will include 29 turbines, 23 of which will be built in Villenova and six in Hanover. In addition to the turbines, the Facility will include an approximate 25.6-mile 34.5 kilovolt (kV) mostly underground electrical collection system and a new substation to interconnect with the National Grid 230 kV system in the Town of Hanover. In December 2016, after undergoing an approval process under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), the Towns of Villenova and Hanover issued permits and franchise rights to Ball Hill Wind. The public hearing is for interested persons to provide comment on Ball Hill Wind’s request for a Commission Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, under Section 68 of the Public Service Law, allowing Ball Hill Wind to exercise its rights under the Towns’ permits.

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

Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 4:00pm

Silver Creek Central School Auditorium
Windsor Community House Meeting Room
1 Dickinson Street
Silver Creek, NY 14136

It is not necessary to make an appointment in advance or to present written material to speak at the hearing. Persons will be called to speak after completing a request card. The public statement hearing will continue until everyone wishing to speak has been heard or other reasonable arrangements have been made. A verbatim transcript of the hearings will be made for inclusion in the record of these proceedings and will be posted on the Commission's website.

Additionally, a Procedural Conference will be held before Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Dakin D. Lecakes, immediately following the public statement hearing, at the same location. The principal purposes of the procedural conference are to identify any potential parties and provide interested persons an opportunity to present and explain any proposals regarding the procedures they believe should be followed in this case by the ALJ and Commission including, but not limited to, whether any issues of fact presented by the petition or public comments warrant an evidentiary hearing. Other procedural issues also may be addressed.

Disabled persons requiring special accommodations should call 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 Commission at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this notice.

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 provide your comments to the Commission. Comments should refer to "Case 18-E-0654 – Ball Hill Wind" and are requested by March 8, 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 “18-E-0654” 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.

Ball Hill’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 “18-E-0654” in the space provided for searching by case number.