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And while supplies seem adequate at present, “the situation will only worsen in the years ahead unless significant new resources are added to the system,” he said.

Museler reported that ISO data suggests that the state will need an additional 7,100 megawatts (mw) of electricity by 2005 to enhance competition and achieve significant reductions in electricity prices as well as emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

“Because of limited transmission capability, high load growth rates and an average generating plant age of more than 30 years, New York City and Long Island are the two most critical areas of high demand,” he said.

“New York State, particularly in the downstate region, is in serious need of new generating facilities over the next few years,” Museler said. “The New York Power Authority, through its generation and transmission assets, continues to play an integral role in meeting these needs.”

To help maintain reliable electric service and satisfy the requirements of its customers in New York City and Westchester County, the Power Authority began construction in 2002 of a 500-mw combined-cycle power plant in Astoria, Queens. A year earlier, NYPA completed the installation of small, clean gas-fired power plants at six locations in the city and another on Long Island to avert threatened blackouts.

In Western and Northern New York, the Authority is investing more than a half billion dollars to modernize its massive Niagara and St. Lawrence-FDR hydroelectric projects, which were built more than 40 years ago. The projects together produce nearly one-eighth of the state’s electricity.

GROUNDBREAKING

What will be one of the cleanest and most efficient power plants in New York City’s history began taking shape in Astoria, Queens, in 2002, as the Power Authority moved to alleviate a serious shortage of generating capacity in the city.

NYPA’s new 500-mw combined-cycle generating facility will enhance the reliability of the city’s power supply, serve the Power Authority’s government customers in the city and Westchester County, allow the closing of the Authority’s adjacent quarter-century-old Charles Poletti Power Project and improve air quality.

The new plant, the largest to be built in New York City since the Poletti project began operation in 1977, is needed to meet the city’s rising demand for electricity. It will also help satisfy reliability rules for electric generation in the city. Because the city is severely limited in its ability to import power, the rules call for enough in-city capacity to meet 80 percent of peak power requirements.

The Power Authority broke ground for the $650 million combined-cycle plant in November 2002 and construction was fully under way by January 2003. The facility is scheduled for completion by 2005.

The state Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment issued a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for the new plant in October, after an historic agreement, announced by Gov. George E. Pataki in September, among the Power Authority, environmental groups and Queens officials.

Various provisions of the agreement included in the license certificate provide for the closing of the natural gas- and oil-fueled Poletti project as soon as 2008—but no later than 2010—and the investment by the Power Authority of an additional $50 million over five years in energy-efficiency and clean-energy projects in the city. NYPA also committed $2 million more for local clean-air projects in Queens.

In addition, the Power Authority agreed to increase the Poletti project’s use of cleaner-burning natural gas, instead of oil, to reduce the facility’s emissions; and to limit Poletti’s electric generation after the combined-cycle plant is brought into service. The 875-mw Poletti project is New York City’s second largest power plant and the in-city generator in greatest use on an annual basis.

“This innovative agreement demonstrates we can both protect our environment and provide reliable supplies of electricity,” Governor Pataki said. “By building new, cleaner sources of electricity and retiring older power plants, New York State will continue to improve the quality of our air and water resources.”

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