ALBANY — The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today announced it would hold informational forums and public statement hearings in the City of North Tonawanda to receive comments on Fortistar North Tonawanda Inc.’s (Fortistar) request for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to continue selling energy produced by its cogeneration facility in North Tonawanda, New York.

Fortistar is the owner and operator of a 55 MW cogeneration facility located in North Tonawanda. The facility has been operating as a cogeneration facility under federal jurisdiction. Operational changes reduced the volume of thermal sales, thereby causing a change in regulatory classification that shifts oversight from federal to state jurisdiction and regulation as an electric corporation. This change in regulatory status triggered a requirement for Fortistar to submit its petition for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity under New York Public Service Law §68. No new construction is associated with Fortistar’s facilities or the petition before the Commission.

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

Thursday, April 11, 2019

North Tonawanda City Hall
Legislative Public Meeting Room
216 Payne Ave.
North Tonawanda, NY 14120

6:00 p.m. Informational Forum and Public Statement Hearings

Other Ways to Comment

For those who cannot attend or prefer not to speak at the public statement hearing, there are several other ways to send comments to the Commission regarding this proposal. Comments should refer to "Case 15-M-0642 - Fortistar CPCN Petition" and are requested by April 30, 2019.

Internet or Mail: The public may enter comments directly into the case file from the Commission's website, www.dps.ny.gov, by clicking on "Search" at the top of the page and then entering “15-M-0642” 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.

Comments may also be submitted electronically to the Hon. Kathleen H. Burgess, Secretary, at secretary@dps.ny.gov, or by mail or delivery to Secretary Burgess at the New York State Public Service Commission, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350. All written comments will become part of the record considered by the Commission.

Written comments may be viewed online by searching by the case number, as described above, and clicking on the “Public Comments” tab. Many libraries offer free Internet access.

Toll-Free Opinion Line: Individuals may choose to submit comments by calling the Commission'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. These comments are not transcribed verbatim, but a summary is provided to the Commission.