Buffalo, Erie County strike deal with NYPA
A protracted and public dispute over funding by the New York Power Authority to Buffalo and Erie County as part of a federal relicensing plan has been settled.
A formal announcement was expected Monday night by the parties. Terms of the agreement call for the city and county to receive a package worth $279 million over 50 years, according to a release from Rep. Louis Slaughter, D-Fairport.
The deal comes as NYPA seeks to have it license at the Niagara Power Project in Lewiston renewed by the federal government.
NYPA will allocate $2 million to greenway projects in Erie County and $2.5 million will go to the Erie Canal Waterfront Development Corp., another state agency recently created by Gov. George Pataki to oversee development along the city's harbor area.
Also,$1 million will come from the Empire State Development for waterfront development.
The deal also calls for $4 million to be granted upfront - $2 million in 2006 and $2 million in 2007.
An additional NYPA settlement includes funding which will be shared between Erie and Niagara counties. That deal will fund $3 million per year for state parklands projects in those counties and another $1 million per year will go for ecological projects.
The NYPA's previous deal paid the entities much less, leading to a squabble that has pitted Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, against the state agency and its supporters. Higgins has called for an audit of the NYPA over its operations and spending practices.
http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/s...ml?jst=b_ln_hl
U.S. Electric Industry Residential Average Retail Price of Electricity by State, 200