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A moratorium on freshwater wind turbines proposed by Sen. George Borrello has been defeated in a state Senate committee.

Borrello’s bill has been sitting in the Environmental Conservation Committee for two legislative sessions before receiving an airing Monday. Members of the Senate’s Environmental Conservation Committee voted 8-3 against Borrello’s proposal (S.6314). Republicans on the committee voted in favor of Borrello’s proposal with Democrats voting against it.

Borrello proposes adding a new section to the state Environmental Conservation Law to create a moratorium on the building or placing of permanent or semi-permanent wind turbines on freshwater lakes in New York state or any freshwater within the jurisdiction and control of the state. A moratorium would also be established for the placement of any infrastructure used to support any wind turbines located in federal waters or waters within the jurisdiction and control of another state. Borrello has raised concerns about placing wind turbines in freshwater lakes due to their status as sources of drinking water.

“This bill was mandated to be on the agenda through a motion by Senator Borrello so the committee is hearing it,” said Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Rockville Centre and Environmental Conservation Committee chairman. “I’m recommending a no vote on this particular bill. I perfectly understand wanting to have local concerns be taken into consideration and even overriding the ability of a project to come to fruition in a given area. It may be that projects in the Great Lakes and others in fresh waters near Senator Borello’s district or upstate districts or others may not be appropriate. But I do think it’s premature to cast a moratorium on those projects until they can be studied.

“It could very well be that having wind projects in freshwater bodies may work. They may not work. They may work in different sizes and proportion. But I do think in light of our state’s goals and what we’re trying to achieve in trying to create a green economy that simply banning them outright through this bill would be a mistake.”

Studies haven’t shown conclusively there would be no adverse impact to drinking water if wind turbines were placed in freshwater lakes, and Borrello said the government of Ontario, Canada, has decided not to remove its longstanding moratorium on wind turbine construction on freshwater bodies. In addition to his concerns about drinking water, the Sunset Bay Republican has raised concerns about what could happen to upstate’s lakes and farmland if remnants from the region’s manufacturing past are disturbed too much by installing wind turbines. It was an argument Sen. Dan Stec, R-Glens Falls, made on Borrello’s behalf on Monday.

“That is the local concern in Western New York,” Stec said. “The public is overwhelmingly concerned and opposed right now, so I think the prudent thing to do would be to take control as a legislature, as Senator (Rachel) May (D-Syracuse) had pointed out in a previous bill and not leave this in the hands of the DEC and a future governor, whoever that might be. Let’s make sure that the legislature elected by the public has control over the drinking water and the impacts that something like this may have on 11 million people’s drinking water. I think a moratorium is a safe move right now.”

In October 2020, NYSERDA was instructed to conduct a feasibility study of Great Lakes wind energy to consider the environmental, maritime, economic and social issues as well as market barriers and costs of developing wind in the Great Lakes, all as part of implementing the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goals. The study comes with a price tag of $1 million and is to consider existing and emerging technologies for fixed and floating turbines, including icing considerations unique to the Great Lakes, new technology development timelines, geospatial conditions, resource assessment, regulatory processes, permitting requirements and risks, potential conflicts, costs and economic opportunities, electrical infrastructure, and overall cost-reduction pathways.

Prompted by Borrello’s questions during a budget hearing earlier this year, Doreen Harris, Doreen Harris, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, said the study should be completed sometime this summer.

“I’m voting no on this,” Kaminsky said. “Clearly no project should be done in secrecy and sprung on a community. The procedures the state has put in place shouldn’t allow that and obviously it’s a serious concern. All the environmental concerns, like sediments and drinking water need to be studied. I’m not in a position right now to say I know the answers to all of that and that any ability to create renewable energy in the lake should be banned from this point forward and perhaps never be done at all.”