ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POWER
ALLOCATION BOARD
MINUTES
March 30, 2009
Videoconference – 10:00 a.m.
New York Power Authority Offices:
123 Main Street, 16th Floor, White Plains, NY
30 South Pearl Street, 10th Floor, Albany, NY
St. Lawrence/FDR Power Plant, 830 Barnhart Island, Massena, NY
Empire State Development Corp., 95 Perry Street, Suite 500, Buffalo, NY
1. Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of February 23, 2009.
2. Power for Jobs Extended Benefits Recommendations for Electricity Savings Reimbursements
A. COMPANIES IN JOB COMPLIANCE
Con Edison - Service Territory
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AT&T, Inc. White Plains - Westchester County
Bowne & Co. New York - New York County
Continental Food Products, Inc. Flushing - Queens County
Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center New York - New York County
Greater Jamaica Development Corp. Jamaica - Queens County
|
New York University New York - New York County
Pepsi Cola Bottling Company College Point - Queens County
S. R. Guggenheim Museum New York - New York County
The Harlem School of the Arts, Inc. New York - New York County
Thirteen WNET (Educational Broadcasting Corp.) New York - New York County |
Long Island Power Authority - Service Territory
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Good Samaritan Hospital West Islip - Suffolk County
Maloya Laser Inc. Commack - Suffolk County
North Shore Health System Manhasset - Nassau County |
Standard Microsystems Corp. Hauppauge - Suffolk County
Ultimate Precision Metal Farmingdale - Suffolk County |
National Grid - Service Territory
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Albany International Corp. Homer - Cortland County
Albany Molecular Research, Inc. Albany - Albany County
AMR Rensselaer Rensselaer - Rensselaer County
Associated Brands, Inc. Medina - Orleans County
Borg Warner Morse TEC Cortland - Cortland County
C. R. Bard, Inc. Queensbury - Warren County
Cascades Tissue Group Waterford - Saratoga County
Corning, Inc. (Canton) Canton - St. Lawrence County
Eastman Machine Company Buffalo - Erie County
Higbee Inc. Syracuse - Onondaga County
Intertek Testing Services Cortland - Cortland County
Manth-Brownell, Inc. Kirkville - Madison County
McLane Eastern Baldwinsville - Onondaga County
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Met Weld Inc. Altamont - Albany County
Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home Gloversville - Fulton County
OAB Holdings, Inc. Buffalo - Erie County
Oldcastle Precast Inc. South Bethlehem - Albany County
PCI Paper Conversions, Inc. Syracuse - Onondaga County
Quad Graphics, Inc. Saratoga Springs - Saratoga County
SABIC Innovative Technologies Selkirk - Albany County
Schilling Forge, Inc. Syracuse - Onondaga County
Snyder Industries, Inc. N. Tonawanda - Niagara County
Syracuse Plastics, Inc. Liverpool - Onondaga County
TMP Technologies, Inc. (Buffalo) Buffalo - Erie County
Welch Allyn Data Collection Inc. Skaneateles Falls - Onondaga County
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New York State Electric & Gas – Service Territory
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Borg Warner Morse TEC (Ithaca) Ithaca - Tompkins County
Consumers Beverages, Inc. Buffalo - Erie County
Corning, Inc. (Big Flats) Big Flats - Chemung County
Corning, Inc. (Northside) Corning - Steuben County
Corning, Inc. (SCC & IDM) Corning - Steuben County |
Corning, Inc. (Southside) Corning - Steuben County
Corning, Inc. (Sullivan Park) Corning - Steuben County
Custom Electronics, Inc. Oneonta - Otsego County
TMP Technologies, Inc. (Wyoming) Wyoming - Wyoming County
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Rochester Gas & Electric – Service Territory
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Seneca Foods Corporation Marion – Wayne County |
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3. Transfer of Industrial Power
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Citigroup, Inc New York – New York County
Lockport Memorial Hospital Lockport – Niagara County |
Met Weld, Inc Altamont – Albany County
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4. Other Business
5. Next Meeting
A regular meeting of the Economic Development Power Allocation Board was held via video conference at the following participating locations:
1) New York Power Authority, 123 Main Street, White Plains, NY
2) New York Power Authority, 30 South Pearl Street, Albany NY
3) St. Lawrence/FDR Power Plant, 830 Barnhart Island, Massena, NY
4) Empire State Development corp., 95 Perry Street, Suite 500, Buffalo, NY
The following Members of the Board were present at the following locations:
Kenneth Schoetz, Chairman (Albany, NY)
Bernard P. McGarry, Member (Albany, NY)
Eugene L. Nicandri, Member, (Melbourne, Florida)
Also in attendance were:
Karen Delince Corporate Secretary, NYPA
Anne B. Cahill Principal Attorney II, NYPA
Joseph Carline Assistant General Counsel , NYPA
James H. Yates Senior Vice President, - Marketing & Economic Development, NYPA
Paul Finnegan Senior Vice President Public & Government Affairs, NYPA
James F. Pasquale Director – Marketing Analysis and Administration, NYPA
Angela Graves Deputy Corporate Secretary, NYPA
Michael Saltzman Director – Media Relations, NYPA
Anthony C. Savino Manager – Business Power Allocations and Compliance, NYPA
Mary Jean Frank Associate Corporate Secretary, NYPA
Lorna Johnson Assistant Corporate Secretary, NYPA
1. Adoption of Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of February 23, 2009 were unanimously adopted.
2. Power for Jobs Extended Benefits
SUMMARY
The Members of the Economic Development Power Allocation Board (“EDPAB”) are requested to recommend that the Power Authority’s Trustees (“Trustees”) approve extended benefits for 50 Power for Jobs (“PFJ”) customers as listed in Exhibit “A”.
BACKGROUND
In July 1997, the New York State Legislature approved a program to provide low-cost power to businesses and not-for-profit corporations that agree to retain or create jobs in New York State. In return for commitments to create or retain jobs, successful applicants received three-year contracts for PFJ electricity.
The PFJ program originally made 400 megawatts (“MW”) of power available and was to be phased in over three years. As a result of the initial success of the program, the Legislature amended the PFJ statute to accelerate the distribution of the power and increase the size of the program to 450 MW. In May 2000, legislation was enacted that authorized additional power to be allocated under the program. Legislation further amended the program in July 2002.
Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2004 extended the benefits for PFJ customers whose contracts expired before the end of the program in 2005. Such customers had to choose to receive an “electricity savings reimbursement” rebate and/or a power contract extension. The Authority was also authorized to voluntarily fund the rebates, if deemed feasible and advisable by the Trustees.
PFJ customers whose contracts expired on or prior to November 30, 2004 were eligible for a rebate to the extent funded by the Authority from the date their contract expired through December 31, 2005. Customers whose contracts expired after November 30, 2004 were eligible for rebate or contract extension, assuming funding by the Authority, from the date their contracts expired through December 31, 2005.
Approved contract extensions entitled customers to receive the power from the Authority pursuant to a sale-for-resale agreement with the customer’s local utility. Separate allocation contracts between customers and the Authority contained job commitments enforceable by the Authority.
In 2005, provisions of the approved State budget extended the period PFJ customers could receive benefits until December 31, 2006. Chapter 645 of the Laws of 2006 included provisions extending program benefits until June 30, 2007. Chapter 89 of the Laws of 2007 included provisions extending program benefits until June 30, 2008. Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2008 included provisions extending the program benefits until June 30, 2009.
At its meeting of October 18, 2005, EDPAB approved criteria under which applicants whose extended benefits EDPAB had reduced for non-compliance with their job commitments could apply to have their PFJ benefits reinstated in whole or in part. EDPAB authorized staff to create a short-form application, notify customers of the process, send customers the application and evaluate reconsideration requests based on the approved criteria.
DISCUSSION
EDPAB is requested to recommend that the Trustees approve electricity savings reimbursement rebates for 50 PFJ customers, which are meeting their current job commitments and are listed in Exhibit “A.” Collectively, these organizations have agreed to retain more than 37,000 jobs in New York State in exchange for rebates. The rebate program will be in effect until June 30, 2009, the program’s sunset.
RECOMMENDATION
It is requested that the Economic Development Power Allocation Board recommend that the Power Authority’s Trustees approve the payment of electricity savings reimbursements to the 50 businesses listed in Exhibit “A”.
The following resolution was unanimously adopted by members of the Board present.
WHEREAS, the following entities have applied for extended benefits recommendations for electricity savings reimbursements under the Power for Jobs program:
B. COMPANIES IN JOB COMPLIANCE
Con Edison - Service Territory
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AT&T, Inc. White Plains - Westchester County
Bowne & Co. New York - New York County
Continental Food Products, Inc. Flushing - Queens County
Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center New York - New York County
Greater Jamaica Development Corp. Jamaica - Queens County
|
New York University New York - New York County
Pepsi Cola Bottling Company College Point - Queens County
S. R. Guggenheim Museum New York - New York County
The Harlem School of the Arts, Inc. New York - New York County
Thirteen WNET (Educational Broadcasting Corp.) New York - New York County |
Long Island Power Authority - Service Territory
|
Good Samaritan Hospital West Islip - Suffolk County
Maloya Laser Inc. Commack - Suffolk County
North Shore Health System Manhasset - Nassau County |
Standard Microsystems Corp. Hauppauge - Suffolk County
Ultimate Precision Metal Farmingdale - Suffolk County |
National Grid - Service Territory
|
Albany International Corp. Homer - Cortland County
Albany Molecular Research, Inc. Albany - Albany County
AMR Rensselaer Rensselaer - Rensselaer County
Associated Brands, Inc. Medina - Orleans County
Borg Warner Morse TEC Cortland - Cortland County
C. R. Bard, Inc. Queensbury - Warren County
Cascades Tissue Group Waterford - Saratoga County
Corning, Inc. (Canton) Canton - St. Lawrence County
Eastman Machine Company Buffalo - Erie County
Higbee Inc. Syracuse - Onondaga County
Intertek Testing Services Cortland - Cortland County
Manth-Brownell, Inc. Kirkville - Madison County
McLane Eastern Baldwinsville - Onondaga County
|
Met Weld Inc. Altamont - Albany County
Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home Gloversville - Fulton County
OAB Holdings, Inc. Buffalo - Erie County
Oldcastle Precast Inc. South Bethlehem - Albany County
PCI Paper Conversions, Inc. Syracuse - Onondaga County
Quad Graphics, Inc. Saratoga Springs - Saratoga County
SABIC Innovative Technologies Selkirk - Albany County
Schilling Forge, Inc. Syracuse - Onondaga County
Snyder Industries, Inc. N. Tonawanda - Niagara County
Syracuse Plastics, Inc. Liverpool - Onondaga County
TMP Technologies, Inc. (Buffalo) Buffalo - Erie County
Welch Allyn Data Collection Inc. Skaneateles Falls - Onondaga County
|
New York State Electric & Gas – Service Territory
|
Borg Warner Morse TEC (Ithaca) Ithaca - Tompkins County
Consumers Beverages, Inc. Buffalo - Erie County
Corning, Inc. (Big Flats) Big Flats - Chemung County
Corning, Inc. (Northside) Corning - Steuben County
Corning, Inc. (SCC & IDM) Corning - Steuben County |
Corning, Inc. (Southside) Corning - Steuben County
Corning, Inc. (Sullivan Park) Corning - Steuben County
Custom Electronics, Inc. Oneonta - Otsego County
TMP Technologies, Inc. (Wyoming) Wyoming - Wyoming County
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Rochester Gas & Electric – Service Territory
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Seneca Foods Corporation Marion – Wayne County |
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NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the Board hereby finds and determines that such applications meet the requirements of the extended benefits provisions of the Power for Jobs legislation contained in Article 6 of the Economic Development Law as amended by Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2008; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Board recommends to the Power Authority of the State of New York the 50 applications for extended benefits recommendations for electricity savings reimbursements discussed herein totaling 54,148 kW until June 30, 2009.
Mr. James Pasquale said that Authority staff was requesting the Economic Development Power Allocation Board (“EDPAB”) to recommend that the Authority’s Trustees approve electricity savings reimbursements for the 50 Power for Jobs customers listed on Exhibit “A” only. He said that EDPAB would be asked to consider reimbursements for the three customers listed on Exhibit “B” at a future meeting
3. Transfer of Industrial Power
The Members of the Economic Development Power Allocation Board (“EDPAB”) are requested to recommend that the Power Authority’s Trustees (“Trustees”) approve the transfers as detailed below:
BACKGROUND
EDPAB is requested to approve the transfer of power allocations for three existing companies that have changed names and or/locations for various business reasons. EDPAB has approved transfers of this nature at past meetings.
The proposed transferees are as follows:
Citigroup, Inc. (“Citigroup”), in New York, New York County, is one of the world’s largest brokerage houses and banking institutions. At their meeting of June 26, 2001, the Trustees approved a 5 MW Power for Jobs (“PFJ”) allocation for Citigroup for various New York City facilities. The 5 MW allocation was extended through June 30, 2009. Of this allocation, 1.5 MW is currently allotted to 333 W. 34th Street, 1.5 MW to 388 Greenwich Street and 2 MW to 111 Wall Street. Citigroup requests that 333 W. 34th Street’s 1.5 MW portion of the 5 MW allocation be moved to 111 Wall Street. The company also requests that 500 kW of 388 Greenwich Street’s 1.5 MW portion of the 5 MW allocation be moved to 111 Wall Street. This transfer would result in 1 MW of PFJ power at 388 Greenwich Street and 4 MW of PFJ power at 111 Wall Street. Citigroup will continue to honor all of the terms and commitments associated with this allocation.
Lockport Memorial Hospital (“LMH”), in Lockport, Niagara County, is the only hospital in the Lockport area that provides full 24-hour acute care services. In addition, the hospital provides many wellness classes for the community. At their meeting of February 24, 1999, the Trustees approved a 350 kW PFJ allocation with 363 jobs for LMH. At their meeting of June 24, 2008, the Trustees approved an extension of LMH’s 350 kW PFJ allocation for 380 jobs through June 30, 2009. As of February 2009, the hospital has a new name. This is a change of name only with no change in ownership. LMH is now Eastern Niagara Hospital, Inc. The hospital will continue to honor all of the terms and commitments associated with this allocation.
Met Weld, Inc. (“Met Weld”), in Altamont, Albany County, has been in business since 1971. Met Weld manufactures fabricated industrial equipment and fluid process control systems for the power generation industry, petrochemical industry, water treatment, heavy manufacturing, food processing and papermaking. Met Weld was awarded a 200 kW PFJ allocation by the Trustees at their meeting of June 26, 2001. The allocation was extended through June 30, 2009, with a switch to Rebate. Met Weld is now a PFJ rebate customer with an allocation of 100 kW and a commitment to retain 40 jobs. Met Weld International LLC has purchased the assets of Met Weld. The business conducted by the company and its location remain unchanged. The company is now named Met Weld International LLC. The company will continue to honor all of the terms and commitments of its contract with the Authority.
It is requested that the Economic Development Power Allocation Board recommend that the Power Authority’s Trustees approve the name and or location changes detailed above.
RESOLVED, That the members of the Economic Development Power Allocation Board hereby approve the transfer of power allocations for three existing companies that have changed names and/or locations for various business reasons as described in the above memorandum to the Board.
4. Other Business
Mr. James Yates said that he wanted to update the EDPAB members on Authority staff activities related to industrial incentive awards. He said that staff has been working to formulate the ground rules for such awards. Staff is working with staff from the New York State Public Service Commission (“PSC”) to address pricing situations for two manufacturing companies, one in Central New York that is a customer of New York State Electric & Gas Corporation and one in the Mohawk Valley that is a customer of National Grid. Both companies’ special contract rate with their respective utilities have expired or about to expire, putting both companies at risk of shutting down entirely or relocating to another state. The PSC has been working with both companies to determine a new target price that would keep the companies’ New York operations viable. It is possible that a portion of the $8 million industrial incentive award pool could be used to offset the difference between the market price of electricity and the companies’ target electricity price on a monthly basis. Such an arrangement could be structured to last for one year, with the possibility of a one-year extension. The goal would be to keep the companies going with such an arrangement until new longer-term fixed-price contracts could be negotiated under new Authority power programs that are being discussed now. Chairman Kenneth Schoetz said that he was pleased with the creative thinking that had gone into this proposal, that he appreciated the heads up and that it would be helpful for the EDPAB members to review a written proposal before the next EDPAB meeting. Judge Eugene Nicandri said that he also was pleased with the proposal. Mr. Bernard McGarry echoed Chairman Schoetz’s comments and said that he thought this was a great approach to using the industrial incentive award money.
5. Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Board is to be determined.