Issue Position: Hydropower

Issue Position

Powering Western New York's Future

Together, we achieved a great victory for Western New York by fighting for more from one of our region's greatest natural resources, the Niagara Power Project. Thank you for your hard work and for sharing my commitment to the future of Western New York. With the settlement of $279 million to Buffalo and Erie County from the New York Power Authority (NYPA), we nearly tripled their original offer. Your support helped us achieve our goal of bringing new revenue and greater local control to redeveloping Buffalo's waterfront for the design and construction of new waterfront projects including parks, public access and improved transportation.

Why Buffalo/Erie County deserved a more fair and equitable settlement:
The Niagara River that fuels the Power Project originates in Buffalo, and the lake that feeds the river is Buffalo's Lake Erie. As a result, the Erie Basin is fundamental to the operation of the Niagara Power Project and without it, the Niagara Project could not exist.

Federal and state legislation required industrial users of Niagara power be located within a 30 mile radius of the Project. This helped fuel Buffalo's rise as a major manufacturing center throughout most of the 20th century. Land use and transportation infrastructure planning were directly influenced by the industrialization of the Buffalo waterfront corridor, including the Inner and Outer Harbors and the Skyway Bridge.

Today, most industry is gone and what remains is an unsightly, undeveloped and inaccessible Lake Erie and Niagara River shoreline. By contrast, the Canadian shoreline of Lake Erie and the Niagara River are pastoral in their natural beauty and are replete with recreational opportunities, including a generous number of trails, parks, parkways and beaches. The Buffalo waterfront should be no less than a complement to the Canadian shores, an inviting and accessible cultural and recreational destination for the 14 million tourists who visit Niagara Falls and an economic development opportunity for the benefit of all of Western New York.

How was a better settlement achieved?

We stood strong in the face of rumor and innuendo that if Buffalo/Erie gets more, rates would rise and jobs would be lost. We told the truth about this once in every fifty year opportunity. We knew that if we did not fight to get our fair share now, there would be no tomorrow. We demanded that NYPA treat Buffalo/Erie as a significant stakeholder and substantiate their claim that they would have to raise rates by opening their accounting books. We ignored those who believed that this community is undeserving of reinvestment. We educated neighbors to the fact that the Niagara Project was not built to subsidize NYPA waste and inefficiency, but to harness the unique natural resources of our region as an economic development and life quality resource.

We called this the seminal issue for our time and for our future. You and thousands of others joined with me in this fight for a fair and equitable settlement. I am grateful for the strong support of the many cities, towns, villages, elected officials, labor, community, civic and business leaders who fought with us. I am grateful to the strong support from U.S. Senators Schumer and Clinton whose longstanding commitment to Buffalo and to re-energizing the waterfront is clearly evident. Without their influence to bring all parties together to craft a settlement, this deal would not have happened.

We learned an important lesson in this fight that when we stand together, no one can deny us and no one can doubt that the people of Western New York deserve more. I look forward to continuing to work with you on behalf of a better and stronger Western New York so that we can create real jobs and real progress for real people.

Thank you for joining me in fighting for the future of the 27th Congressional District; I am proud of your work and of our joint effort.

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