News & Events

---

Brookfield Action Letter

Dear Neighbor,

The Sacandaga Protection Committee has been closely monitoring reports from Hudson River – Black River Regulating District staff to the Board concerning the dispute over Brookfield Renewable’s decision to stop paying $1.5 million annually to the Regulating District for the use of the Conklingville Dam and GSL water to generate electricity at the E. J. West hydroelectric plant next to the dam. At the October 8th meeting, Regulating District general counsel reported to the Board that the Office of the Attorney General is preparing to file suit against Brookfield to get the energy giant to pay the more than $3.1 million they now owe to the Regulating District for the use of the dam and reservoir, and to resume making the annual payments going forward. As you know, the continued financial health of the Regulating District is in the interest of every permit holder. Though we have vigorously (and successfully) fought attempts to drastically increase permit fees in the past, Brookfield’s unwillingness to pay its fair share for the use of the reservoir raises the possibility that we may have to do so again in the future. 

Already, the cessation of payments from Brookfield has resulted in downstream assessments higher than county governments in Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Albany and Rensselaer counties had anticipated. Leaders in these counties have questioned why Brookfield can be allowed to increase its profit margin by skipping out on its bill, and sticking their taxpayers with the tab. 

We feel it’s time to publicly call on our elected officials to support the New York State Attorney General’s efforts to hold Brookfield accountable and demand the company pay its fair share in compensation for use of New York State resources.

We are asking you to contact your members of the New York State Assembly and Senate and request them to contact the New York State Attorney General to express support for the lawsuit against Brookfield Renewable to compel the company to pay the $3.1 million now owed in “back rent” and to resume these payments moving forward so permit holders, and downstream taxpayers, don’t have to foot the bill for Brookfield’s increased profits. 

The easiest way to contact your members is to use the following the links below and send a message on the representative’s web page. You can find your Assembly Representative using the following link https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/.  You can find your State Senate Representative using the following link https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator.

From these pages you can link to the representative’s web page and send a message. You can state that New York State is preparing to spend tens of millions of dollars to maintain the Conklingville Dam, and that just as permit holders and downstream taxpayers are expected to pay their fair share for Regulating District operations, Brookfield Renewable should be required to pay its fair share for the use of the dam and water.

Background/History

In July, 2023 Brookfield Renewable stopped making $1.5 million in annual payments to the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District (HRBRRD) for the use of Great Sacandaga Lake and Conklingville Dam in generating and selling electricity at its E.J. West hydroelectric plant, adjacent to the dam. To put the $1.5 million annual payment in context, HRBRRD has cited financial reports published by the company showing that it generates $1.5 million per day from its North American hydroelectric facilities. 

In 1922, New York State created the Hudson River Regulating District whose mission was to build a dam on the Sacandaga River and create a reservoir that would impound water to help prevent flooding on the Hudson River during periods of high-water flow. Also, the water was to be released to augment river flows during periods of drought. The laws that created the Regulating District provided that the downstream beneficiaries would pay for the construction of the dam, reservoir and the ongoing operations and maintenance. 

In order to obtain the real property and rights to construct the Conklingville Dam, the State reached an agreement with New York Power & Light which conveyed real property to the State for the dam’s construction. In consideration for the benefits that New York Power & Light would receive relative to hydroelectric power generation, this agreement, which reserved 15 feet of the impoundment to the company, also committed it to ongoing lease payments to the Regulating District for the use of the additional 56 feet the State would provide, as well as the water impounded in Great Sacandaga Lake, for use in generating electricity.  The company and its successors – including Erie Boulevard Hydro, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brookfield Renewable – have paid this annual fee pursuant to that agreement, and subsequent agreements, without interruption right up to July of last year. 

The most recent operating agreement with Brookfield was due to expired on June 30, 2022, but was extended for a year to allow the company to continue to negotiate with the State over a new contract. 

During this period, both HRBRRD and Brookfield Renewable requested the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to help resolve the dispute. FERC’s decision rejected Brookfield’s contention that its lease payments were duplicative of headwater benefits charges assessed to downstream plants, but declined to help the state enforce the contract. When HRBRRD asked FERC if, since New York State Public Authorities Law prevented it from continuing to provide the water and the impoundment at Conklingville Dam to Brookfield for free, it could shut the water off to the plant and make releases through the dam, FERC replied that HRBRRD needed to continue to release water through the E. J. West Power Project even though Brookfield Renewable was no longer paying for the benefit. As of today, while permit holders, the State of New York, other beneficiaries, and downstream taxpayers continue to pay their fair share for the operation and maintenance of Conklingville Dam and Great Sacandaga Lake, the water continues to flow through Brookfield Renewable’s turbines, generating profits for the company, even though the company has failed to pay for the privilege for over a year.

Bet on the Lake $10,000 Raffle Winners - 2024

Drawing was September 6th for our annual raffle fundraiser. The list of winners are as follows:

FIRST PRIZE $10,000 WINNER: #296 Christian Farone

SECOND PRIZE $2,500 WINNER: #195 Patty Rhodes

THIRD PRIZE $1000 WINNER: #191 Craig Radliff

FOURTH PRIZE $500 WINNER: #370 Bob Weisgerber

(10) $100 PRIZE WINNERS:

#300 Andrew Wood

#242 Kory Smith

#313 Tammy Reidell

#052 Joyce Griesemer

#243 Kevin Smith

#194 Daniel Casey

#274 Carrol Morris

#127 Becky Romano

#078 Susan Urbanski

#187 Pat Schell 

Thank you all for supporting the lake!

Golf Outing Fundraiser - Saturday, June 1st

Our annual Golf Outing was another huge success! A big thanks to all of the golfers, sponsors, silent auction donors, and volunteers who made it possible!

Golf Outing Fundraiser - Saturday, June 1st

It's that time of year again for our annual Golf Outing Fundraiser at Hales Mills Country Club, Saturday, June 1st at 9:00am. It is $100 per person and includes 18 holes of golf, cart, coffee, lunch, on course beverages, prizes, silent auction, cocktails and hor's d'oeuvres at the awards reception.

Come join us for a fun-filled day of golfing!

Register via email to: spcgsl@gmail.com

Summer 2023 update letter

The SPC, founded in 2009 when the HRBRRD tried to impose new rules which would have removed exclusive use and severely curtailed the rights of permit holders, continues to, with your generous support, monitor the issues important to our lake community. 

The SPC is the only organization advocating for the lake community with a lobbyist in Albany and a very capable law firm on retainer. The SPC supported the Governor’s plan to have NYS pay the $3.4 M the HRBRRD was charging the downstream counties for the property taxes the HRBRRD pays to our local school districts and municipalities. This was great news for our schools, villages and towns, and will relieve the pressure the downstream counties have been placing on the HRBRRD to designate permit holders as beneficiaries for purposes of reducing the assessments the downstream counties were paying.

The proposed repairs and updates to the Conklingville Dam are long overdue, and

the potential impacts of the plan of work are very important to our community.

While the actual project may not begin until the end of 2024, the SPC and our

lobbyist have been actively supporting the HRBRRD’s administration in securing

state funding for the projects. The Governor’s last two budgets have allocated

$40M for the repairs and this 2023-24 state budget has another $20M for all

District infrastructure projects. The SPC supports these budget allocations and is

anxiously awaiting the release of the scope of work for the Conklingville projects.

The HRBRRD now has a new challenge to their funding. While the HRBRRD relies on many sources of funding for their operations a significant revenue source is Brookfield Energy and other downstream energy producers. Brookfield had been paying $1.5 Million per year for the Head Waters the GSL provides, per the Reservoir Operating Agreement (ROA) between Brookfield and the HRBRRD. When the ROA expired this spring Brookfield looked to reduce the payments to the District to somewhere near $75,000. Both parties filed for a judgement with FERC, and the SPC had our attorneys prepare a supporting letter to the HRBRRD position. In light of recent developments from the FERC determination that Brookfield is not under the obligation to continue the payments the SPC is currently in discussions with our attorneys regarding our response. With its earlier reductions and its recent cancellation of its Reservoir Operating Agreement with the Regulating District, revenue from Brookfield will be just $365,100 in the Hudson River Area in the current fiscal year, compared to $1,881,099 in 2003, representing a decrease of over 80% from what it was paying just two decades ago.

It is important to everyone in our community that Brookfield pay their fair share

for the 57’ of water (referred to as Head). The water impounded in the GSL is a

State Asset, and as such is protected by state law and may not be given away. Any

loss of such a significant portion of HRBRRD revenue puts the agreements with

the state and downstream counties at risk. The HRBRRD web page has a section

dedicated to this issue: https://hrbrrd.ny.gov/brookfield-dispute/

The SPC relies on donations to fund our budget. All the money we raise goes to

our legal efforts, fund raising and compliance with not-for-profit rules and

regulations. We just completed our very successful 3 rd annual Golf Outing and are

now selling $100 tickets for our “Bet on the Lake” $10,000 first prize raffle. Only

400 tickets will be sold, so please don’t miss out. David Smail and Bob and Nancy

Jones have tickets for sale, along with the folks at Brownell Lumber, Kingsboro Lumber, Fuel N Food and The Lakeside Tavern. Or you can buy tickets over the phone by calling the Fulton Montgomery Chamber of Commerce at 518-725-0641. You may also make a donation by check to the SPC, P.O. Box 86, Mayfield NY 12117 or at our website