The New York Power Authority has deferred approval of controversial relicensing agreement due to potential conflict of interest, but passed a resolution that could provide $3 million a year for economic development in St. Lawrence County.

A vote on the overall Local Government Task Force agreement was deferred today after one trustee alerted the board to a potential conflict of interest.

That recusal left the board short of a quorum, as two other trustees were absent.

The balance of the agreement is now scheduled to be considered at the board’s annual meeting on March 26.

The NYPA Board of Trustees did approved funding that will enable up to $3 million a year from the sale of hydropower to be used for economic development in St. Lawrence County.

The vote follows the enactment of the Northern New York Proceeds Allocation Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in December to support capital investments and new jobs in the region.

The legislation authorizes NYPA to use an estimated $3 million in earnings that will come from the sale of hydropower from NYPA’s St. Lawrence-FDR hydroelectric plant and serve as a source of capital for qualified businesses.

The power was made available in 2012 to the town of Massena to allocate to businesses, but had gone unused.

NYPA says this funding is the first step toward implementing an agreement NYPA reached with the St. Lawrence Local Government Task Force in connection with a 10-year review of the relicensing of the St. Lawrence-FDR plant in Massena.

According to NYPA, the deal provides at least $115 million in benefits to the North Country over the next 40 years on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits already allocated since the 2003 relicensing.

“I’m excited to get moving on the LGTF agreement, so we can help give the North Country the economic shot in the arm it both needs and deserves,” said Gil C. Quiniones, NYPA president and CEO. “I’m confident this can be the first step toward years of progress and prosperity.”