Jun. 22--ALBANY -- Energy legislation that includes preserving St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project hydroelectricity for north country businesses is on a fast track to approval this week.

"What we have is a statewide, comprehensive energy bill," said state Sen. James W. Wright, R-Watertown, an architect of the legislation.

The legislation, introduced in the state Senate by Mr. Wright, would commit 490 megawatts of St. Lawrence-FDR preservation power for businesses in Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Franklin counties and provide 250 megawatts of expansion power and continue 445 megawatts of replacement power from the Niagara Power Project for businesses within 30 miles of that plant. The replacement power is slated to expire at year's end.

Matching legislation is working its way through the Assembly, where it was co-sponsored by Assemblyman Darrel J. Aubertine, D- Cape Vincent.

The legislation also would provide the Power Allocation Board greater flexibility in deciding allocations for the Power for Jobs program, remove references to the James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant that jeopardized continuation of low-cost power to companies under the Economic Development Power Program; and extend by three years the 80 megawatts of power provided to businesses in Lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The power represents what the World Trade Center and nearby buildings used before they were destroyed.

"What we've done is we have created a comprehensive bill that addressed a series of energy issues we have literally worked on for the past two years," Mr. Wright said. "There were a lot of modifications and negotiations, and the end result has been incorporated in this bill. This legislation meets needs of the north country and the needs of the rest of the state."

Mr. Aubertine said the legislation is a good bill.

"It's a better bill than previous legislation that's been offered up," he said.

Last year, Mr. Aubertine introduced a number of bills that would preserve the St. Lawrence-FDR hydropower for north country businesses, but none of those measures were ever voted on in the Assembly.

This year, Mr. Aubertine decided against introducing such legislation, though he apparently was drafting a measure that would ensure the north country would benefit from 17 megawatts of unallocated, low-cost hydroelectricity produced by the St. Lawrence- FDR plant. The legislation was based on the 18 megawatts of additional power the plant is expected to generate after completion of a $254 million ongoing upgrade slated for completion in 2013.

A draft press release announcing the proposal was inadvertently included in a press release issued Thursday by Mr. Aubertine.

Mr. Aubertine has said he was unsure whether it would be wise to create "stranded power" in the north country that might be better used elsewhere. He frequently criticized an element of Mr. Wright's earlier legislative efforts dealing with the problem that included a 60-mile area around the St. Lawrence-FDR project as the region where the plant's power would be preserved for businesses.

The only Assembly legislation introduced this year to preserve St. Lawrence-FDR hydropower for north country businesses was by Assemblywoman Dierdre K. Scozzafava, R-Gouverneur. That bill matched legislation, introduced by Mr. Wright, that the Senate approved in March.

Since then, Mr. Wright, in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, has been involved in behind- the-scenes negotiations with leaders of the state Senate and Assembly and with Gov. George E. Pataki's staff. Those negotiations culminated in the legislation introduced Monday.

The legislation is somewhat of a victory for Mr. Wright, who used his committee chairmanship to strategic advantage in ensuring that legislation preserving Niagara power for that region did not move forward in the state Senate without similar legislation preserving the St. Lawrence-FDR hydropower for north country business also being approved.

Lawmakers from Western New York frequently tried to keep the two issues separate, but Mr. Wright insisted that what was fair for one region must also be fair for the other. The new legislation puts St. Lawrence-FDR and Niagara projects on equal footing.

Mr. Wright was cautiously optimistic about its passage.

"This is an agreed-to bill and was introduced as a governor's program bill," he said. "It will become live on Thursday, and I anticipate both houses will pass the bill on Thursday. We've put a lot of work into it for the past two years."

The legislation includes provisions under which 20 megawatts of unallocated St. Lawrence-FDR power and 70 megawatts of unallocated Niagara hydropower can be used for statewide job creation and retention programs. Up to 38.6 megawatts of St. Lawrence-FDR hydropower also can be used for such programs if that power is voluntarily given up by businesses in the future.

The Power Authority would sell the power to the wholesale market, with the proceeds benefiting Economic Development Power, High Load Factor power and Municipal Distribution Agency power customers who received low-cost power from the Fitzpatrick Nuclear Plant, which was sold in 2000. The legislation extends the contracts for those customers through 2006.

The 490 megawatts of St. Lawrence-FDR preservation power included in the legislation represents most of the hydropower used by Alcoa for its Massena operations. It buys the energy from the New York Power Authority at a rate of 1.4 cents per kilowatt hour under a long-term contract due to expire in 2013.

Alcoa and NYPA are negotiating a new contract. The company has offered to invest up to $450 million to upgrade or replace its East Plant and maintain a minimum of 500 to 700 jobs in exchange for a 30- to 50-year contract for cheap hydropower. The company now employs more than 1,200 workers at its Massena operations.

Assemblyman Paul D. Tonko, D-Amsterdam, chairman of the Assembly Energy Committee, said the legislation provides a more rational and sound approach to the St. Lawrence-FDR preservation power issue.

"We have more chance for the power to be regionally utilized by the definition of the region rather than by just the 60-mile radius in previous proposals," Mr. Tonko said, pointing out that the legislation will include Watertown in the area that can utilize the St. Lawrence-FDR preservation power.

Of greater concern, however, is ensuring a new contract between Alcoa and NYPA, Mr. Tonko said.

"If that fails, then we obviously have an issue where the power supply will be dealt with first and foremost in that three-county region," he said.

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