Siting Permitting & Public Involvement

• Section 94-c of the Executive Law of New York State governs the process for siting and permitting applicable to the Columbia Solar Project. It provides for the review of new or modified major electric generating facilities by the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES), housed within the Department of State.
• This new permitting process for renewable energy projects greater than 25 MW in New York State has been established by the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth & Community Benefit Act Legislation from 2020.
• The Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act legislation may be accessed via Part JJJ of the Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation (TED) Bill, beginning on page 103 Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly (nyassembly.gov)
• The ORES final regulations were published in March 2021 with sets uniform standards and conditions for projects to meet Regulations | Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ny.gov)
• The application may be examined during normal business hours at the ORES and at public libraries, in accordance with section 900-1.6.(a)(6) of Regulation 94-c.
• On November 26, 2021, Columbia Solar Energy Center officially elected to transition from the former Article 10 permitting process to the new 94-c permitting process. 
• The transfer application documents can be viewed here:
  • Notice of application transfer 
  • Cover letter
• Visit our Resources page for previous 94-c and Article 10 Application Filings, including design drawings and site plans.
• The application may be examined during normal business hours at the ORES and at public libraries, in accordance with section 900-1.6.(a)(6) of Regulation 94-c. 
• See the Columbia About page for the list of document repositories.

Will be posted when available.

• One-year timeline for approval following a completeness determination (completeness determination roughly 60 days following application submission)
• If deemed complete, applications will be acted upon within one year.

• If the Siting Office does not make a determination within one year, the draft permit will be deemed approved and permit granted.

• Those wishing to receive all notices concerning the proposed project can subscribe to the Department of Public Service – Matter Master – Service List. Click How to Subscribe  – for step by step instructions on how to subscribe to the Service List of Matter and Cases. To access relevant documents from the ORES website, look under Permit Applications (Project DMM Matter Number)

The Columbia Solar Project is a zero-emission solar energy project that will assist the New York State in meeting the goals of the Climate Leadership and Protection Act and State Energy Plan, which includes obtaining 70% of energy generation from renewable sources by 2030 and significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Other positive impacts of the Project include diversification of energy supplies, new employment opportunities (both temporary construction employment and full-time jobs), and increased revenues in the Towns of Columbia and Litchfield, Herkimer County, New York, school districts, payments to participating landowners, the local hospitality industry, and purchase of local supplies and goods.

The 94-c Process has been implemented by rules enacted by ORES and establishes a review process with uniform standards and conditions for all renewable energy projects. The uniform standards and conditions are available at 19 NYCRR 900.6 and www.ores.ny.gov/regulations

In addition, EDFR has attempted to minimize impacts associated with the Project, for example, by limiting the disturbance to forested lands and wetlands to the maximum extent practicable. EDFR will submit an Application that includes extensive studies evaluating the potential impacts associated with the Project and identified methods which have been agreed to be implemented to avoid, minimize and mitigate potential impacts. A summary of those studies is presented below.

EDF Renewables’ Development Manager and permitting team presented information about impacts related to endangered species, farmland, wetlands, tree clearing, and environmental studies at community meetings. See the Project Information Tab on our Resources Page.

• Communities and local governments will have opportunities to provide input throughout the new Siting Office review process:
• No application will be deemed complete without proof of consultation with the host community
• Municipalities will be notified upon the publishing of an application’s draft permit conditions and shall provide feedback on the draft permit conditions and the proposed project’s compliance with local laws.
• If host community statements raise any substantive and significant issues that require adjudication, the Siting Office may establish a date for an adjudicatory hearing.

Local agency account means the account established by ORES and maintained by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority pursuant to Section 94-c of the Executive Law for local agencies and potential community intervenors which meet the eligibility and procedural requirements of this Part to participate in public comment periods or hearings. Local agency means any local agency, board, district, commission or governing body, including municipalities, and other political subdivision of the state.

Pursuant to 19 NYCRR 900-5. EDF Renewables Development Inc. (“EDF RD”) will submit with the Application $1,000 dollars for each MW of capacity for local agencies and potential community intervenors, which for this project, is projected to be $350,000. Any local agency or potential community intervenor had an opportunity to submit a request to ORES for funding within thirty (30) days of the date of the Application filing. By regulation, 75% of the local agency account funds was reserved for local agencies. Intervenor requests were made to:

The Office of Renewable Energy Siting
Attention: Request for Local Agency Account Funding
99 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12231-0001

Will be posted when available.

All persons who desired to participate in the adjudicatory proceeding were given an opportunity to register as a party on the Department of Public Service’s Document Matter and Management (DMM) system and consent to electronic service. Information on how to register on DMM may be found at: https://www3.dps.ny.gov/W/PSCWeb.nsf/All/CC256BE982C58CF785257687006F39CE?OpenDocument 

Any party that: (a) has requested the information or normally would be entitled to service of such under 19 NYCRR Subpart 900-8 and (b) is not a party that would benefit from access to the Protected Information by reason of being a competitor or having an adverse business interest to the Providing Party is entitled to access to Protected Information under this Protective Order.

To qualify its information as Protected Information, the party submitting the information (Providing Party) to ORES must submit to the presiding Administrative Law Judges a contemporaneous, written request (Request for Protected Status).

“Protected Information” is information that is submitted to the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) by a party to this proceeding under cover of a claim that it should be protected from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), Public Officers Law (POL) §84 et seq., Part 80 of title 19 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (19 NYCRR), and the procedures outlined in Paragraph 6 regarding a Request for Protected Status. “Protected Information” also includes any information learned on any site visit to the project area about the location of any threatened or endangered species, or species of special concern, or location or characteristics of the habitat of such species.