Green Conversations Continue as More Hydroelectric Power is Proposed

BUFFALO, NY – We have many natural resources throughout the Empire State. The technology to use them in an environmentally friendly manner is advancing rapidly.

“The general reason we’re so concerned about anything anyone does with the river is because of what you see here,” Niagara Musky Association President Scott Kitchen said as he passed the armored banks of the Niagara River.

When four larger bodies of water lead to this, there is already some wear and tear. This comes directly to mind for Kitchen, who spends the majority of the year on these waters.

“When you hear about something like this hydrokinetic project, you just worry about what other negative impacts this is going to have on an already fragile fishery,” he said.

He understands how the ecosystem works and now keeps up to date with plans to potentially install large electric turbines on the riverbed. This is relatively the starting point where they talk about having hydroponic generators. Once again, it’s a sort of pyramid that disappears.

But there are many people outside of these banks who don’t like the idea.

“Is this a solution? Is this a viable solution? » asked the kitchen. “I think if you were to fill the entire river in every area where there is a viable current, it might not be enough. You probably wouldn’t be able to generate enough electricity to power homes in the city of Buffalo.

This is just one of the growing concerns raised in community organization comments and meetings with proposed installers.

“I’m a computer scientist, so we’re talking about alpha testing and beta testing, right? So alpha testing, it’s like we’re not even sure if this is ready to use yet. And then beta testing is what we think. And now can we actually make holes as a user? I think we are still in the alpha testing process,” he explained.

Because wherever we are in the process, it’s people like Kitchen’s Kerrie Gallo and Buffalo Waterkeeper, who are at least spearheading some of the conversations.

“We come here quite often,” she said. “So we have a handful of restoration projects, a handful of projects that we call ‘living shoreline efforts,’ that are really about trying to erase that hard boundary between water and land.

While you’ve seen some of the work they’ve done, if you’ve walked along the river to the falls, it’s only a fraction of maintaining the viability of the waterway.

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

The Buffalo Common Council introduced a resolution stating that this issue needs to be looked into further before anything is installed, and while Kerrie and company like the green energy proposals, they agree.

“We are a community that has spent a lot of time trying to undo our industrial heritage and our legacy,” Gallo added. “One of the things that concerns us is, you know, how can we prevent the reindustrialization of our waterways? And I realize that this is a green energy proposal. But what are these impacts?

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

“The step of trying to gather as much information as possible, seeking advice from local groups who have been really extraordinary stewards of the environment in the Niagara River, in particular,” Johnson said. “We are, you know, visitors to this community. We definitely want to be more grounded than that in the future. But you know, their advice is really important.

They have some of these modules in different parts of the world and make the closest comparison to that of rural Alaska. They therefore emphasize that it is first of all a study aimed at seeing if a larger project is viable for the Queen City.

“In some of these urban environments, you know, solar and wind are tricky because of space, but when you have, you know, a river like the Niagara River, that could really provide, you know, a really beneficial use. of electricity for a number of different applications,” he said.

As discussions continue, Kitchen says he’s seen troubling progress in the plan, with the possibility of installing a generator without FERC approval by 2025 to facilitate the study.

Those with skin in the game and boats on the water are eager to continue the conversations to see if this is a truly good option for Niagara and our communities.

“It takes time to really build that trust,” Johnson said. “Some people might definitely see this as a challenge. I think we will also see this as an opportunity.

“Nothing against them personally. It’s not against their business. I’m sure they have the best intentions. It’s just that their priorities may not be the same as ours,” Kitchen said. “If, you know, they talked a lot about it being a very high priority, them with their fishermen and all that. And it’s great. But ultimately, when we have more pointed conversations, after we get past the niceties and formalities, that’s when we’re really going to see what their point of view is.

Since June 2024, ORPC has applied to federal agencies for permits to study whether the turbines would be suitable for Niagara. There is something in the works where a turbine could be permitted by the Army Corps of Engineers to power some EV stations for Buffalo’s Sewer Authority. This is also something that is being hailed as green, but some community concerns about how quickly this process could happen are being brought up at community meetings.