State Senator George Borrello talks with citizen about fuel costs

With the gas sales tax holiday set to end in less than two months, State Senator George Borrello is expressing concern over increasing gas and diesel prices.

Borrello said in the month of October, diesel prices increased $1.40 a gallon, “Right now, diesel fuel is in short supply. I heard that from several folks yesterday. I was at another place where they transport gas and I was speaking to an over-the-road trucker. In Pennsylvania right now, diesel fuel is over $7 a gallon. Now, that all has a ripple effect. Everything that you buy at a grocery store has to be transported. And everything has to be transported largely by diesel trucks and that means a cost increase for everything.”

Borrello said when sales tax holiday ends, the price per gallon of gas is expected to go up at least 18-cents at the beginning of the year. He said, for now, the tax holiday should be extended until the state figures out a better path.

Borrello said the State Legislature should be looking at how to harness energy sources in the state, “New York is rich with natural gas. New York is the third largest producer of hydro-electric power. We can do more of that. There are many alternatives and even clean, renewable alternatives that just aren’t being explored. We’ve become one trick ponies. It’s all wind and solar. There are many other ways for us to generate power affordably and also in a clean manner as well.”

Borrello added that he believes New York State needs a new energy policy.

BPU Retool ’22 Conference Keynote Speaker Clint Wilder and MC Mike McKay (October 18, 2022)

We’re halfway through the transition to modern energy according to Retool ’22 Conference keynote speaker Clint Wilder.

Wilder is the Editorial Director for CleanEdge which is a developer and publisher of stock indexes tracking clean energy, transportation, water, and the grid.

Speaking at Northwest Arena Tuesday morning, Wilder cited five key drivers that are accelerating the transition from fossil fuel to alternative energies such as wind and solar power. He said the first driver is the dramatically declining costs of solar, wind and battery storage, “We have a major shift in investment dollars from fossil fuels into clean energy. Public support in poll after poll in the U.S., and I’ll have some more information about this, something like 70% of Americans support more resources and policy support for clean energy.”

Wilder said there has been an 85% drop in prices for solar and wind since 2010, which has made it competitive with natural gas.

Wilder said another driver is the development of the smart grid and electrification. He said smart grids support the way energy is digitized and stored, making for more efficient distribution. Wilder cited how California’s smart grid was able to handle a 10-day heatwave with no rolling blackouts as seen in the past.

He said policy support is another driver, seen in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act; and Infrastructure and Jobs Act, “So this is the biggest federal support that we’ve ever seen by far to put resources behind growth of clean energy. It’s something that we advocates in the industry have been calling for, waiting for, for a long time and it’s finally happened.”

Wilder said these policies in the last two years have seen immediate impact with multi-billion dollar manufacturing investments being made in the United States.

The Jamestown BPU’s Retool ’22 Conference continues Wednesday and will feature keynote speaker John Ellis at the Northwest Arena. For more information, visit jamestownbpu.com

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Several residents from northern Chautauqua County appear at the Sept. 26, 2018 meeting of the county legislature to share their concerns and frustrations over three wind projects that are either operating or currently in development in their area.

A wind farm in Wyoming County, NY gives an idea of the size and scope of the turbines that may soon be put in place in Villenova and Hanover. (Photo from the Buffalo News)

The Chautauqua County IDA board and staff during the Jan. 23, 2018 IDA board meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency has given its approval to a series tax breaks to a large wind farm project in the eastern and central portions of the county.

On Tuesday morning the IDA board unanimously approved a property tax abatement for Cassadaga Wind LLC project, set to be located in the towns of Arkwright, Cherry, Creek, Stockton, and Charlotte. Once built, the wind farm will include as many as 58 wind turbines, with a maximum height of 500 feet and which would have a maximum generating capacity of 126 megawatts (MW).

A wind farm in Wyoming County, NY gives an idea of the size and scope of the turbines that would be used in the Cassadaga Wind project (Photo from the Buffalo News)

Under terms of the PILOT plan, Cassadaga Wind LLC would not have to pay any property taxes, but would make an annual payment of $4,000 for each megawatt produced, on average, over the course of any tax year. If full capacity was achieved, the first year PILOT payment would be $504,000 and would be split up between the affected taxing jurisdictions. An annual escalator was also included.

Because the tax exemption would involve a deviation from policy, a deviation hearing on the matter also took place prior to the vote with representatives from each affected taxing jurisdiction allowed to address the board. The only officials present were from the Cassadaga School District and no one spoke against the PILOT plan.

With the abatement in place and with the state Siting Board giving the green light for the wind farm earlier this month, the project can now move forward.

Developers say the project would have a major positive economic impact on the host communities, including creating nearly 75 to 100 construction jobs. Once operations, another 7 to 10 jobs would be in place.

The majority of the wind farm will be located on private land and about 50 private property owners would also receive a payment from the company, with projections of those annual payments totaling $1,000,000.

A wind farm in Wyoming County, NY gives an idea of the size and scope of the turbines that may soon be put in place in Villenova and Hanover. (Photo from the Buffalo News)

JAMESTOWN – The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency has authorized a payment in lieu of tax (PILOT) agreement for a proposed wind farm in the north county.

According to an article in the Post-Journal, the IDA’s board of directors met on Tuesday and authorized a deviation from uniform policy for the Ball Hill Wind Energy Project. The deviation approval was necessary because wind farms are not included in the county’s tax exempt policy.

According to the paper, the wind farm will bring over $300,000 a year to the county, towns of Hanover and Villenova and school districts within the towns via Payment in Lieu of Tax – or PILOT – agreements.

The Ball Hill Wind Energy Project plans to place more than 29 turbines in Villenova and Hanover.

A final resolution authorizing the project will likely be considered in December once a final environmental impact statement is complete.