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TURNING WATER INTO JOBS
Low-cost electricity generated at the Power Authority’s Niagara Power Project proved again in 2002 that it is one of the state’s most valuable economic-development tools.

Under the direction of Governor Pataki, NYPA extended the benefits of Niagara hydropower—some of the nation’s least expensive electricity for industry—to additional companies with a major marketing campaign, which attracted new investments totaling $85 million in Western New York.

The electricity comes from a block of 445,000 kw of Replacement Power, authorized by the federal Niagara Redevelopment Act of 1957 to replace power supplied to local industries by the Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.’s Schoellkopf plant before it was destroyed in a 1956 rockslide.

The Power Authority also sets aside 250,000 kw of Niagara Expansion Power for economic-expansion purposes. Together, the two allocation programs help protect more than 45,000 jobs at nearly 100 companies across the Niagara Frontier.

Niagara hydropower for businesses is priced at less than 2 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh), 60 percent lower than the national average of almost 5 cents per kwh for industrial electricity.

When 17,000 kw of Replacement Power became available in 2002 from companies that no longer needed the electricity or were unable to keep job commitments tied to their allocations, NYPA teamed up with Empire State Development and other state and local agencies to market the power.

As a result of the campaign, 545 new jobs will be created at 17 companies. These include new recipients such as American Pharmaceutical Partners on Grand Island, as well as existing customers planning expansions, with commercial dinnerware manufacturer Buffalo China just one example.

TOP: ONE OF NYPA'S NEWEST RECIPIENTS OF NIAGARA REPLACEMENT POWER IS AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL PARTNERS, WITH A MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN GRAND ISLAND, ERIE COUNTY.