The Water Appropriations Bill, passed by USCongress last year, included a provision for granting a license by the end of 2003. Stuyvesant Falls Hydro Corporation, a subsidiary of Albany Engineering and a co-licensee, will likely operate the plant after the town acquires it from Reliant Energy. Reliant, based in Houston, owns 71 hydro plants in 59 communities in New York.
The plant has not produced power for about a decade when Niagara Mohawk was ordered to shut it down by the New York state Public Service Commission. Once the plant is purchased, Stuyvesant Falls Hydro expects to spend about US$1M in repairs and upgrades.
The plant is expected to be generating 3MW of power by the end of 2004 or early 2005.
