ALBANY —The The New York State Department of Public Service today announced that the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (ORES) has issued a final siting permit to Chateaugay NewCo LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of AES Clean Energy, for the 116.5 megawatt (MW) Chateaugay Wind Project located in the Town of Chateaugay in Franklin County and the Town of Clinton in Clinton County.
The Chateaugay Wind Project will replace an existing facility that has reached the end of its useful life. The existing wind turbines will be decommissioned and replaced with newer, more efficient, and state-of-the-art turbines and associated infrastructure. The new repowered facility will reduce the total number of turbines while delivering a generating capacity of 116.5 MW, approximately 10 MW more than the existing facility.
The repowered project will generate enough clean, renewable energy to power approximately 21,000 homes. The new turbines are expected to reach commercial operation in 2029.
Department of Public Service CEO Rory M. Christian said, “The Chateaugay Wind Project demonstrates New York’s commitment to modernizing its clean energy infrastructure while making more efficient use of existing sites. Repowering projects like this allow us to increase renewable energy production, strengthen grid reliability, and expand access to some of the fastest to build, lowest-cost sources of new electricity while delivering meaningful economic benefits to the host communities.”
All of the new and existing generation components associated with the project will fall within Franklin County. The Chateaugay Wind project will provide more than $15 million in direct financial benefits over the life of the project to the Town of Chateaugay and Franklin County, significantly increasing local revenues. Direct payments to local jurisdictions will occur in the form of Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs), Host Community Agreements (HCAs), and fire district tax payments. Land lease payments, purchases of local goods, and both temporary and full-time employment opportunities are expected to positively impact the local economy. In addition, under the Public Service Commission’s host community benefit program, the project is expected to provide $1,165,000 in utility bill credits for residents of the Town of Chateaugay over the first 10 years of operation.
Construction of the project will create approximately 77 full-time jobs, most of which are expected to be filled from the local labor market. Once operational, the facility will support a total of six permanent positions, including site management, technical, and administrative roles. The developer anticipates hiring locally for most of these full-time positions.
Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission Interim Executive Director Jason Zehr said, “The repowering of the Chateaugay Wind Project will provide a net increase of clean, renewable energy into New York’s power grid while delivering lasting local economic benefits. I commend the community for its engagement on this project ahead of and throughout the ORES application process. ORES remains committed to ensuring that renewable energy projects are responsibly sited in a manner that protects public health, safety, and the environment while supporting a reliable and resilient electric grid.”
With the approval of the Chateaugay Wind Project, ORES has now approved 37 large-scale solar and wind projects representing more than 5.4 GW of clean energy generation. Together, these projects will protect and improve public health, safety, and the environment by substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions and co-pollutants attributed to power generation in New York State while contributing needed megawatts of additional electricity to support the continued reliability of New York’s energy grid.
The Chateaugay Wind Facility will consist of wind turbines and associated components, a medium voltage electric collection system, gravel access roads, and meteorological (MET) towers. Portions of the gravel access roads and collection system from the existing Chateaugay Wind Facility will be utilized for the repowered Facility. The Facility will interconnect through the existing point of interconnection (POI) at the NYPA 230 kV Ryan Substation.
The project was approved after a rigorous, timely, and transparent review process that included a public comment period and public comment hearing. Per Public Service Law Article VIII, the Facility was permitted within six months of application completeness, significantly less than the required one-year timeline. The permit includes enforceable conditions governing the construction, operation, and decommissioning of the Facility, ensuring full site restoration at the end of the project’s operational life.
Town of Chateaugay Town Supervisor Donald W. Bilow said, “The Town of Chateaugay is pleased to support the repowered Chateaugay Wind Project. The Host Community Agreement that we signed several years ago with Noble has enabled us to complete projects that we would not have been able to do without the financial support of the Host Community Agreement, including lowering taxes.”
Today's decisions may be obtained by going to the Department's Documents section of the website at www.dps.ny.gov and entering the Matter Number 23-03031 in the input box labeled "Search for Case/Matter Number." Many libraries offer free Internet access. Department documents may also be obtained from the Department's Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500). If you have difficulty understanding English, please call us at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.
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