Multiple news agencies are reporting that three employees of a contractor working at the Mount Ida hydropower plant were injured in an electrical incident.
WYNT/NewsChannel 13 reported that the men were doing electrical work on May 21 when an electrical arc occurred as they were working about 45 feet down a 90-foot spiral staircase. All three people got out of the building on their own, according to Fire Chief Rich Cellucci. They were taken to area hospitals for treatment for burns and other injuries. The hydro facility will not be operated until further notice, per owner Relevate Power.
More than one news source reported the men were working on a transformer.
The 2.9 MW Mount Ida facility is located on Poestenkill Creek in Troy, N.Y., and was acquired by Relevate Power in 2023.
According to the company’s website, the Mount Ida generating station was constructed in 1983 and consists of a timber A-frame type dam, reinforced intake structure, water conveyance tunnel and powerhouse. Water is diverted from the streambed at the top of Poestenkill Gorge, a 160-foot natural rockfall, and channeled through a 525-foot-long underground rock tunnel and a 775-foot-long reinforced concrete/steel penstock before falling into a 94-foot-deep reinforced concrete caisson that contains two 1,460 kW Boving Francis turbines.
In total, Relevate Power owns 21 hydro projects in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont with total capacity of nearly 30 MW.
