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 Town of Canisteo, to receive comments on the Canisteo Wind Energy LLC (CWE) proposal to build and operate a 290.7 megawatt (MW) wind electric generating facility in the Towns of Cameron, Canisteo, Jasper, Greenwood, Troupsburg and West Union in Steuben County.

The proposed facility, the Canisteo Wind Farm, is a utility-scale wind power project that would include up to 122 wind turbines together with its associated electrical collection system, access roads, collection substation components, meteorological towers, an operation and maintenance building, and other related facilities. CWE proposes to interconnect the Project to the power grid by constructing an electric transmission cable that would interconnect to New York State Electric and Gas Corporation’s Bennett substation in the Town of Hornellsville. The transmission facility will be subject to review in a separate proceeding, pursuant to Article VII of the Public Service Law and will not be reviewed as part of the proposed wind Project (19-T-0041). Opportunities for public information and comment will be held, as follows:

At the informational forums, the Examiners will provide an overview of the certification process before the Siting Board for the proposed Project. CWE will then present a brief summary of the proposed Project and will have maps of the proposed project area available for public viewing. Members of the public will then have an opportunity to pose questions about the process and the application pending before the Siting Board.

Those wishing to comment on CWE’s proposed Project will have the opportunity to make a statement on the record at the public statement hearings following the informational sessions. To speak at the hearing, it is not necessary to make an appointment in advance or to present written material. Any person wishing to provide a public statement must complete a request card, which will be available at the hearing. The Examiners will use the request cards to call each person who has completed one in order to provide a statement. Each public statement hearing will be held open for a minimum of one hour and will be kept open until everyone wishing to speak has been heard or other reasonable arrangements have been made to include their comments in the record. Reasonable time limits may be set for each speaker as necessary to afford all attendees an opportunity to be heard. It is recommended that lengthy comments be submitted in writing and summarized for oral presentation. A verbatim transcript of the hearing will be made for inclusion in the record of this case.

Persons with disabilities 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 Department 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 comment about this case to the Siting Board “Case 16-F-0205 – Canisteo Wind Article 10.” Although comments will be accepted throughout the pendency of this proceeding, they are requested by June 14, 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-0205” 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 sent directly to the Secretary of the Siting Board at secretary@dps.ny.gov. Comments may also be sent by mail or delivery service to Hon. Kathleen H. Burgess, Secretary, Siting Board, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350. 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.

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.

The application for the proposed Project may be reviewed online at the Siting Board web page (http://www.dps.ny.gov/SitingBoard), by following the link to “Projects Under Review,” on the left side of the page. It also may be accessed by visiting the Department of Public Service website, www.dps.ny.gov, then clicking the “Search” link on the upper center area of the page, then using the “Search by Case Number” feature, to search for case “16-F-0205.” The application materials may be located under the tab “Filed Documents.” The application is also available for review at local public libraries in the project area and upon request to CWE.