CHENANGO COUNTY – Just because the state’s electricity operator says the project isn’t needed, that doesn’t mean New York Regional Interconnect’s 400,000 volt power line – if built – wouldn’t still improve overall energy reliability, company officials claim.

However, opponents of the $1.6 billion line ask if it’s worth devastating upstate communities to improve on what looks to be a secure 10-year energy supply – especially since, according to energy officials, NYRI’s project would receive government reimbursements and pass on its investment risks to consumers.

Citing the same 2007 “Comprehensive Reliability Plan” released by the New York Independent System Operator that says its 190-mile-long power line “need not be implemented,” NYRI spokesman David Kalson still touts the project as an important upgrade in New York’s energy system.

“The NYISO CRPP (Comprehensive Reliability Plan) specifically found that NYRI will improve reliability and satisfy a portion of the reliability needs identified by the NYISO,” Kalson wrote Thursday in an e-mail sent to The Evening Sun. “It found that proposed market-based solutions would also meet the identified reliability needs, but it went on to identify significant risk factors associated with those projects, none of which have been permitted or built. The NYISO has concluded that the reliability of the New York power system is in jeopardy unless new resources are built. The NYRI project is part of the solution to this serious issue.”