Archive: Opinions

A miracle has occurred in Tompkins County.  I half expect to see four horsemen riding down Route 34B.  It has seemed, especially in recent years, that Lansing governments have been out of step with much of the rest of the county, and nothing has been more contentious than the issue of power (the kind that makes things, go, not political power, although, at times, that has come into play as well).  The Cayuga Operating Company's new plan to shut down the plant entirely and transform the building into a data center (for cloud computing) than uses 100% green energy has created this miracle -- all our elected leaders agree it is a great idea.

That's not surprising, because everyone on both sides of the repowering issue gets what they want.  Those who wanted to keep the plant open really wanted, for the most part, to keep the business open in a way that could eventually recover lost property tax dollars and keep jobs in Lansing.  The power plant has lost $140 million in a ten year period, and during the same period the Shops at Ithaca Mall assessment has also reportedly plummeted by over $32 million.  Finding ways to keep major businesses growing is important, not only for the businesses, but for property taxpayers who have to make up for the lost revenue either by paying higher taxes themselves, or receiving fewer services, including cuts to school programming.

Folks who just wanted to eliminate fossil fuels in favor of renewable, clean energy certainly get what they want.  The proposal is to power the data center using hydro-electric power augmented by solar power, both clean, renewable energy sources.  It closes the power plant, which is what they advocated for.  It also creates new well-paying jobs, at least 30 of them.  And it reuses the building.

It is refreshing that the agreement is so specific on both sides of the town line.  The company is asking for two things it needs to make the transformation happen.  One is an allotment of green energy, and the other is a grant to assist with reusing electrical equipment.  If the company's only goal had been to bring harmony to Lansing/Tompkins politics they couldn't have come up with a better proposal.  Maybe Cayuga Operating Company officials should be called in to resolve all local political disagreements going forward.

This week Tompkins County Legislature Chair Martha Robertson sent a letter to Governor Cuomo arguing that he should tangibly support those two things.  The letter is signed by all but one legislator, Democrats and Republicans, legislators who both supported and opposed the previous plans to repower the plant with natural gas.  Our state representatives have indicated they favor the project, and, of course, representatives within the town are thrilled that Cayuga Operating Company has put forth such an unexpectedly different vision of what the old power plant could be.  One that has unlimited potential to raise the assessment, which could provide relief to taxpayers and the taxing authorities alike.

Two issues may be sticking points.  One is the fate of power plant workers who do not have training they might need to work in a data center.  And the other is the future of the coal ash.  But it is unlikely that local representatives would tank the project proposal.  Both the company and its employees have seen the writing on the wall for a long time: the plant would eventually close.  It was just a matter of when.  And the Governor told us earlier this month that 'when' will be next year.  Elected officials are saying that early retirement and/or retraining funding will be offered by the company.  As for coal ash, I will not be surprised if there is more contention over that, but separate from whether or not the data center goes forward.  Because both the company and the whole Tompkins community benefit from having a big data center right here in little ol' Lansing.

Everyone refers to 'the cloud' though many don't realize that the so-called 'cloud' is a whole heaping bunch of computers in a secure location that data is uploaded to and downloaded from.  If you have a smart phone you almost certainly have something in the cloud even if it's just the settings for your phone.

And who lives in clouds?  Angels, of course.  Which explains, I believe, how this political miracle was wrought.  We should savor this miracle, because we are unlikely to see this kind of agreement, especially in Tompkins County, again any time soon.

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