Executive Speeches

Remarks of Louis P. Ciminelli, chairman of the New York Power Authority, at a community event marking the relicensing of the St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project, Massena, New York.

July 27, 2004

This is truly a red-letter day—for the Power Authority and for the North Country.

A new license for a power project doesn’t come along all that often—in fact, we don’t plan on having another event like this for another 50 years or so. That’s one reason today is special—but there are plenty of others.

I’m particularly delighted to see so many of the people who contributed so much to the successful relicensing of the St. Lawrence-FDR Project. This was—in every sense—an extraordinary cooperative effort.

Officially, the license was issued to the Power Authority. But it’s a credit to all those—representing the local communities, the state and federal governments, environmental interests, business and labor—who worked with us to resolve a host of complex issues.  This is your license, too. And we thank you for helping to make it a reality.

The new license is also a tribute to the vision and determination of Governor George E. Pataki. It’s no secret that there were some difficult and discouraging times as the process began to unfold. But Governor Pataki never wavered in his commitment to a relicensing agreement that would put first and foremost the needs of the North Country and of the communities that are home to this project.

That commitment has been met. And while the Governor regrets that he’s unable to be here today, he has asked me to pass on his thanks and congratulations.

St. Lawrence-FDR is the largest hydroelectric project to be relicensed thus far by the federal government. More important, it was the first large project to win a new license under an alternative process that included maximum participation from the start by interested individuals and groups. More than 60 such stakeholders took part. And their role was vital.

But—successful and satisfying as it was—the relicensing process is now in the past. And the new license is all about the future.

It calls for the Power Authority to provide significant benefits in the local communities. But it also sets expenditures for these items in a way that will enable us to keep on supplying some of the nation’s least-expensive electricity to Alcoa and GM Powertrain—two of our oldest and most important customers and the heart of this region’s economy. This was the vital balance we sought in the relicensing.

Now we’re following through on the commitments in the new license and related agreements. We’re pleased that local communities and school districts are already using payments from our Community Enhancement Fund for various projects and to stabilize taxes.  And we’re moving ahead on a variety of other fronts—ranging from preparations for the return of land to local property owners and municipalities to our work on numerous environmental and recreational initiatives.

Just this morning—at our meeting here at the project—the Trustees approved a $3.7 million contract with a Potsdam firm—J.E. Sheehan—for construction at the Lisbon, Waddington and Massena town beaches and at Whittaker Park in Waddington. This is in keeping with our efforts to use North Country companies whenever we can for work related to the relicensing.

I’d also like to comment briefly on two additional items that are extremely important to all of us.

As many of you know, the Power Authority—independent of the license—has contributed more than $20 million to the St. Lawrence Aquarium and Ecological Center for capital purposes. We want to do all we can to ensure the success of this exciting project that offers great potential benefit to the North Country. That’s why we recently agreed to a one-year extension to the deadline for the aquarium’s leaders to meet their operating-fund target.

Let me also take this occasion to say that we regret our inability to reach an agreement with the Mohawk community as part of the relicensing process. We value and respect the Mohawks as neighbors and we look forward to a productive future relationship with them.

As I indicated earlier, this is a day for all of us to focus on the future. But it’s also worth looking back for a moment—to exactly 45 years and one month ago today.

On June 27, 1959, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Vice President Nixon and others gathered at the center of the power dam to dedicate this great international project. I suspect the same sense of promise and hope that we feel today was apparent then.

The original expectations have been met. And now—with our new 50-year license—we have the opportunity to open the way to an even brighter new era for St. Lawrence-FDR and Northern New York. I have no doubt that—if we keep working together—we’ll be more than up to the job.

Thank you very much.