Business as usual

The Power Authority made six more allocations of low-cost Niagara hydropower the other day, which only served to underscore the inefficiency of the status quo. Click here for complete story.

Long story short, the discounts will save the companies an estimated $3.6 million over the next five years. The firms agree to create 79 jobs, which works out to about $45,000 per job. The going rate for job creation tends to top out at about $35,000, which means NYPA is once again paying a premium.

Click here a chart on the six power allocations.

NYPA, in its press release, noted: <i>The Western New York Advisory Group (WNAG), consisting of NYPA, National Grid, Empire State Development Corp., the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, and the Niagara County Department of Economic Development, recommended Tuesday’s allocations. The WNAG was established in 2003 to help identify qualified companies for available industrial power from the Niagara project. </i>

To what degree did these organizations review these allocations, and are any of them prepared to press for a change in the state criteria by which Niagara hydropower is allocated? Tom Kucharski, head of BNE, is on record as saying the criteria are outdated.

Finally, an audio interview with Greg LeRoy, an expert on economic subsidies, is available by clicking here. He's a knowledgeable fellow.