Below are three important steps you can take to ensure that Hecate Energy’s proposed Shepherd’s Run solar facility does not destroy Copake and its farmland, natural resources, viewsheds, property values and future.

 

Today we urge you to focus on Action 2.  The most important thing we can do right now is to contact Governor Kathy Hochul, telling her that the Hecate Shepherd’s Run project should be stopped and NYSERDA should not subsidize it.  Even a brief email will be noticed and can have significant impact.

To help you out we’ve included some key messaging points at the bottom of this page for you to leverage in your responses.

ACTION ONE
Post a public comment to the New York State Department of Public Service’s website so your concerns are made part of the official considerations of Hecate Energy’s application by New York State.

1. Go to: https://tinyurl.com/mvtj2wjj
2. Post your comments at this site.  Key messaging points can be found at the bottom of this page to help you in your letter writing.
3.  Be sure to check both the “I’m not a robot” and the “I understand the purpose of public comments…” boxes, and then click the “Post Comment” button at the bottom of the page.

ACTION TWO
Call or write to Governor Kathy Hochul and Lt. Governor Anthony Delgado and let them know you opposed Shepherd’s Run as currently proposed.  Key messaging points can be found at the bottom of this webpage to help you in your letter writing.

Governor Kathy Hochul
Lt. Governor Anthony Delgado
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

518-474-8390

Alternatively, you can email Governor Hochul at
https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form

ACTION THREE
Call or write to Houtan Moaveni, Executive Director of the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) and let him know you oppose Shepherd’s Run as currently proposed.  Key messaging points can be found at the bottom of this page to help you in your letter writing.

Houtan Moaveni, Executive Director
NYS Office of Renewable Energy Siting
c/o: OGS Mailroom 240 State Street
P-1 South, J Dock
Albany, NY 12242

518-473-4590
​
Alternatively, you can email ORES at https://ores.ny.gov/form/contact-form

 

Below you will find key messaging points that you can use to help write your letters or to use during your phone calls.  We highly recommend that you use these messaging points as guides in the creation of a letter or conversation that is truly your own.  We really want the community to be heard with heartfelt letters as to why our community is so important and why this solar facility needs to be better for Copake and NY State.  We encourage you to be respectful in your outreach to these officials, they are vital in helping to protect our community.

First, we recommend you start by providing details as to who you are, what town you live in, how long you’ve lived here and what this community and its environment means to you.

Next, we recommend you use some of the statements below in helping to express your opposition to Shepherd’s Run.  Also, feel free to include other statements in your outreach.

• On January 2, 2024, 60 acres of farmland that was supposed to be part of the Shepherd’s Run Solar project was sold and the new owner has stated it will not be leasing the land to Hecate.  Noting this, ORES rejected Hecate’s siting permit application.  The Project must be redesigned.   Given Hecate’s incompetence in managing this project and its failure to operate with transparency, Hecate should not play any role in NY’s energy plans.

 

• We understand the need to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.  However, we cannot allow the promotion of renewable energy and the interest and profits of big business, to result in the destruction of rural communities and vital prime farmland across New York and the United States.

 

• The global food shortage and the destruction of farmland in the western United States presents a much greater need to leverage the prime farmland of Copake and New York State.  Using prime farmland for solar facilities renders this farmland useless for 20-30 years or until the solar panels are removed.  New York State needs to recognize that the removal of prime farmland from operation will be a massive detriment to our food supply in the coming years.

 

• The City of Hudson, the Towns of Copake, Hillsdale, Taghkanic and Claverack, and the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, have all passed unanimous resolutions opposing the Shepherd’s Run project, at least until there are further guarantees that water quality will not be affected.

 

• Hecate has not properly addressed the Taghkanic Headwaters Conservation Plan which seeks to preserve this area from damage and to protect clean water. Hecate plans to build Shepherd’s Run right in the middle of the Taghkanic Headwaters.  This is wrong.

 

• To connect the solar panels to the grid, Hecate has proposed drilling directly under wetlands and streams. We’re concerned about impacts to water flows and the acquifers that supply our wells.

 

• The plan calls for clear cutting 40 acres of trees on hillsides and leveling the hills, because Hecate needs more acreage to meet its energy sales goals of 60 MW. This is wrong!

 

• We question how the project will impact soil erosion and sediment runoff into waterways, especially where the hills will be leveled, and how this might impact our streams and wetlands.

 

• All these lands will be surrounded by fencing, which then impacts wildlife habitats, migration paths, and breeding areas that are critical to maintaining a key wildlife passage for the entire Northeast.

 

• Hecate has announced that it will sell off the project, definitely at a profit and walk away. Who will we be dealing with to make sure all promises are kept??