Last night Richard Kessel,CEO of the New York Power Authority, made his case before Jefferson County Legislators for the NYPA’s proposed Great Lakes Offshore Wind Initiative. The proposal put before legislators was to place wind turbines on and around Gallo Island. After Mr. Kessel’s address to County Officials and a crowd of several dozen concerned citizens, Legislators voted 14-0 against the project.
In December 2009, NYPA issued a request for proposals for the development of offshore wind power projects in the New York State waters of Lake Erie and/or Lake Ontario. The Power Authority's hope is to develop a utility scale, offshore wind power project in the range of 120 megawatts (MW) to 500 MW.
The NYPA CEO said that thousands of jobs might be created if the project were to happen locally off the shores of Lake Ontario. However, Legislators argued those jobs would only be short lived.
Kessel will take his Offshore Wind Initiative proposal before Oswego County Legislators on Thursday.
