Eco-talks continue with the proposal for more hydropower plants

BUFFALO, NY – We have plenty of natural resources throughout the Empire State. The technology that helps use them in an environmentally friendly way is developing rapidly.

“The general idea of ​​why we’re so concerned about anything anyone does with the river is based on what you see here,” said Scott Kitchen, president of the Niagara Musky Association, as he drove past the armored banks of the Niagara River.

By the time you get to the four larger pools of water leading into it, some wear and tear is already showing. This came directly to mind for Kitchen, who spends most of the year in these waters.

“When you hear about something like a hydrokinetic project, you just worry about what other negative effects it will have on an already sensitive fishery,” he said.

He understands how the ecosystem works and is currently implementing plans to potentially install large energy turbines on the riverbed. This is relatively the starting point when talking about having hydroponic generators. Again, it’s kind of a little pyramid that goes outward.

But there are more than a few people outside of these banks who don’t like this idea.

“Is this the solution? Is this a viable solution?” – asked the Kitchen. “I think if you fill the entire river with them in every area where there is a viable current, it might not be enough. You probably couldn’t generate enough power to power homes in the city of Buffalo.

This is just one of the growing concerns emerging in comments and meetings between community organizations and proposed installers.

“I’m a computer scientist, so we’re talking about alpha and beta testing, right? So alpha testing makes it seem like we’re not even sure if it’s ready for people to use yet. And beta testing is what we think it is. And now we can get people as users to actually poke holes in it? I think we’re still in the alpha testing phase,” he explained.

Because wherever we are in this process, people like Kitchen and Kerrie Gallo of Buffalo Waterkeeper are at least leading some of the conversations.

“We come here quite often,” she said. “So we have some restoration projects, some projects that we call ‘shoreline revitalization efforts,’ that are really intended to blur that sharp line between water and land.”

While you’ve seen some of the work they’ve done, if you follow the river all the way to the falls, that’s only a fraction of maintaining the vitality of the waterway.

“Yes, we have a lot of different tools in our toolbox every year. We are working on about 40-60 different types of projects,” Gallo continued. “So certainly water quality monitoring and sampling, eyes and ears on the water, but also policy and advocacy and trying to communicate the issues that are important to our community to our elected officials and public officials.”

The Buffalo Common Council introduced a resolution saying the issue needs to be looked at more closely before anything is installed, and while Kerrie and company love the green energy proposals, they agree.

“We are a community that spends a lot of time trying to destroy our industrial heritage and our legacy,” Gallo added. “You know, one of the things that worries us is how do we prevent the re-industrialization of our waterways? And I realize this is a green energy proposal. But what are these consequences?”

Hoping to address these impacts, Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) and Nathan Johnson.

“The stage where we’re trying to gather as much information as we can and seek guidance from local groups, who in particular are really amazing stewards of the environment on the Niagara River,” Johnson said. “You know, we are guests of this community. We certainly want to be more rooted in the future. But you know, their tips are really important.

They have some of these modules in different parts of the world and compare them most to rural modules in Alaska. That’s why they emphasize that this is the first study to see whether a larger scope is feasible for the Queen City.

“You know, in some of these are urban environments, solar and wind are difficult because of space, but when you have a river like the Niagara River, it could really provide, you know, a really beneficial use of electricity for a lot of different uses.” he said.

Kitchen says he’s seeing some troubling developments in the plan as talks continue, including the possibility of installing one generator without FERC approval by 2025 for research purposes.

People who know what they’re doing and have boats on the water are eager to continue the conversation to see if this is truly a good option for Niagara and our communities.

“It takes time to really build that trust,” Johnson said. “That certainly some people could see it as a challenge. I think we would also see it as an opportunity.”

“Personally, I have nothing against them. It doesn’t go against their company. I’m sure they have the best of intentions. But their priorities may be different from ours,” Kitchen said. “If, you know, they talked a lot about it being a very big priority, them with their fishermen and so on. And that’s great. But ultimately, when we have more specific conversations, when we get past the niceties and formalities, then we will really see what their perspective is.”

As of June 2024, ORPC has asked federal agencies for permission to study whether the turbines would be suitable for Niagara. Work is underway to allow the Army Corps of Engineers to allow one turbine to power some electric vehicle stations for the Buffalo Sewer Authority. This is also something that is being applauded as green, but there are some concerns raised in the community at community meetings about how quickly this process can happen.