Power Struggle: the Public and the Power Line

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on March 1, 1980
article image
PHOTO: MIMA CATALDO
TOP LEFT: Mohawk Indian Celia Laffin confronts "Frenchy," a worker hired by PASNY to fell the Barse elm. BOTTOM LEFT: John Lauzon protects his own dairy farm. RIGHT: A 175 foot (and not yet wired) 765-kilovolt power line tower dwarfs both "the normal-sized" transmission setup and the full-grown man in this photo.

This is a story about a power struggle between a large state utility and the small bunch of independent and stubborn rural folks who joined together to fight it.

And you might as well know right now that the people lost: The electric company in question (the Power Authority of the State of New York) successfully usurped large pieces of land and constructed an ugly, irritating, and possibly dangerous 765-kilovolt power line. In fact, the 155 mile stretch of giant transmission cables is “on line” today, and carrying imported electric current from Quebec across prime upstate farmland and down toward urban New York City.

So, in one sense, the outcome of this story will be a simple one: The utility did get its way and did build its huge line. However, if you look closely at the results of the people-versus-power-line conflict, you might just conclude that the rural New Yorkers (along with a lot of folks in different states who are right now fighting other electric companies) are — in the long-run energy battle — actually going to win . . . and partly as a result of this particular power line struggle.

But the reasons for that optimistic conclusion won’t be clear to you unless we back up and tell this tale from the very beginning, starting with . . .

The Power Company

In 1973, the Power Authority of the State of New York (PASNY) decided to build a 155-mile, 765-kilovolt electric line from Fort Covington (a town near the Canadian border) south to Utica. Because PASNY is owned by the state, the utility could sell tax-free bonds to conveniently raise all the funds necessary for the immense construction job. The corporation could also — by virtue of being “public” — easily sidestep the court injunctions and environmental restrictions that would apply to any privately owned company.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368