Frankly, my dear, I don’t want a dam!

A controversial new power line has been proposed in an unlikely spot – buried under almost the entire length of the Hudson River. The proposed transmission line, known as the Champlain-Hudson Express, would be funded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. If built, the line would begin north of the Canadian border, and run 370 miles along the bottom of Lake Champlain, down the bed of the Hudson all the way to New York City and continuing under Long Island Sound to Connecticut.

Not only would this produce an extreme ecological impact on the unique environment of the Hudson River, but the project has many other controversial aspects.  These include its status as a renewable energy project, the lack of inclusion of the First Nations people in the decision process, its questionable economic benefits, and the necessity of the project to obtain a “Presidential Permit”.

Ecologically, the project will negatively affect the current flora and fauna that are dependent on Lake Champlain and the Hudson River.  Laying submarine cables presents a number of environmental problems including stirring up industrial chemicals resting on the bottom of lakes or rivers. Currently, the underwater sediment disturbance caused by the dredging and trenching techniques on the wildlife, fish habitats, endangered species, micro-organisms, vegetation, drinking water, and human activities are unknown.

Furthermore, the project is currently being labeled under renewable energy development. The project has applied for $1.52 billion in Recovery Act loan guarantees under the assumption that the cable will transport the prerequisite renewable wind and/or hydro power into New York from facilities at Lower Churchill Falls, Canada. However, those facilities have yet to be constructed. Central to the promotion of the project is the promise to import "green" renewable energy into the service area; however, as a transmission only facility, the project has no control over the source or quality of the commodity it will transport.  As such, the project has never asserted that it will only transport renewable wind and hydropower over the cable and has never said that it would not transport non-renewable power from coal, nuclear power, or the tar sands.

In a catch-22 situation, the anticipated hydroelectric power that is to be produced for the project is dependent on the Champlain-Hudson Express cable being approved. The dams at Churchill Falls are yet to be built, and the environmental impact of the dams is yet to be determined.  The Uashaunnaut, the Innu of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam are the First Nations whose traditional lands lay in this area. The Uashaunnaut have yet to be consulted on this process and have stated that the proposed hydroelectric projects will significantly and negatively impact their traditional way of life, their traditional lands, the flora and fauna in the area, and all the natural resources of the territory.

From an economic perspective, purchasing energy from outside New York State does not make sense for the state’s, as well as the national, balance of payments. The project seeks to enter an energy market that already has an oversupply of electricity at a time of contrasting economic activity and in a business climate fostering energy efficiency and conservation initiatives that collectively are reducing the demand for existing supply.  The project development appears to be dependent not on current or projected market conditions, but rather on federal loan guarantees including federal subsidies which would underwrite at least 80% of the project’s cost. Additionally, the project would be eligible for other federal, state, and local subsidies and business incentives including Industrial Development Agency sales tax exemption, property tax abatement, IRS allowances, job creation credits, and brown field redevelopment grants. 

Since both the cable and the electric power are to cross the international US-Canada border, the project must first be granted a “Presidential Permit”. Because of this, it is imperative that all the consequences of the project be taken into account and local options be considered.  The Champlain Hudson Power Express project would encourage reliance on concentrated, large scale energy production and transmission over long distances instead of encouraging domestic renewable energy sources which are urgently needed to combat climate change.  The project's claims defy market realities which demonstrate on a daily basis that a plentiful supply of power exists within the New York Metro area.

If built, this project would be one of the longest submarine power cables in the world, and if it is successful, other transmission developers are likely to propose their own ambitious projects in other rivers and lakes.

In the words of New Jersey’s Sierra Club chapter director, Jeff Tittel, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t want a dam!”