NEW YORK: Installation of Emergency Generators on Schedule— Installation of 10 small electric generators at five sites in New York City and one on Long Island under NYPA's PowerNow! program are on schedule for completion by the summer peak-demand period. The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on Jan. 12 issued permits for the gas-turbine generators, which will be the city's cleanest power plants. Work at two sites in the Bronx is the furthest along, with the concrete foundations, or pads, for the generators scheduled to be completed by early February. The generators will be placed at the sites as soon as the concrete has cured. Excavation, surface grading and pile-drilling work are also on schedule at the other sites, in Brooklyn, Queens and Brentwood, Suffolk County. In addition, the DEC held a hearing Jan. 25 on Staten Island to take public comments on the installation of an 11th gas turbine, at Pouch Terminal in the borough. The generators, with a combined capacity of more than 450 megawatts, are intended to avert a possible power shortage and resulting price spikes in the region this summer.

ALBANY: More Than 33,000 Jobs Linked to Power Allocations— Governor George E. Pataki has announced that more than 33,000 jobs will be protected at 69 businesses and not-for-profit organizations as a result of the latest allocations of lower-cost electricity under the Governor's Power for Jobs^TM program. Power Authority trustees on Jan. 30 awarded grants of power to nine first-time recipients in addition to extending allocations to 60 current customers. The new recipients, including companies on Long Island and in Elmira, Rome and Amsterdam, committed to maintain more than 1,000 jobs in return for the power. The allocations were made possible by legislation last spring renewing the highly successful program, which is now linked to more than 262,000 jobs in various parts of the state. The Power Authority obtains the electricity for the Power for Jobs program under contract or through a competitive-procurement process.

WHITE PLAINS: NYPA Headquarters Named for Rappleyea— Power Authority trustees on Jan. 30 named NYPA's headquarters at 123 Main Street here the Clarence D. Rappleyea Building to honor the Authority's departing chairman and chief executive officer. Rappleyea, who had led NYPA since July 1995, stepped down the next day. A resolution approved by the trustees recognized Rappleyea for more than two decades of service in the state Assembly, including 12 years as minority leader. It noted that during his nearly six years at the Power Authority's helm, he "became a nationally recognized expert on electric utility issues, such as competition and deregulation, new technologies and electric vehicles." The resolution also noted that "all NYPA staff members shall miss the concern, compassion and friendliness he exhibits on a daily basis." The 420,000-square-foot building at 123 Main Street was built in 1981 and purchased by the Power Authority in 1991.

WHITE PLAINS: Ciminelli Elected NYPA Vice Chairman—
Power Authority Trustee Louis P. Ciminelli has been elected vice chairman of NYPA by his fellow trustees and will assume the duties of its chairman until a successor to C.D. "Rapp" Rappleyea is in place. Ciminelli, a Buffalo businessman, has served as a trustee since 1995, longer than any of the three other remaining members of NYPA's five-person board. He is chairman and chief executive officer of Louis P. Ciminelli Interests Inc., which includes LPC Construction Co. Inc., Western New York's largest contractor. Power Authority trustees are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the state Senate. The trustees elect one of their number to serve as chairman.

PLATTSBURGH AND MARATHON: NYPA Helps Grow Jobs— Allocations of lower-cost Power Authority electricity to support expansions of companies served by municipal electric systems in the City of Plattsburgh and the Village of Marathon, in Cortland County, will help to create about 170 jobs, Governor George E. Pataki has announced. Mold Rite Plastics, Inc., which currently employs about 260 people in Plattsburgh, is constructing a 60,000-square-foot building to house molding and printing machinery. The company expects to add 100 jobs over the next three years. Square Deal Machining, a Marathon company providing steel fabrication and welding services, is planning a $2.5 million expansion that is expected to more than double its current work force of 66 over the next three years. NYPA trustees approved the allocations Jan. 30 from a block of 108,000 kilowatts of power reserved for municipal and rural cooperative electric systems for economic development.

LEWISTON: NYPA Logs 40 Years of Low-Cost Niagara Power— NYPA's Niagara Power Project is marking its 40th anniversary in 2001 as New York State's largest electric generating facility and the source of some of the nation's least expensive electricity. Since it began commercial operation on Jan. 28, 1961, the 2,400,000-kilowatt project has generated more than 590 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, nearly enough to meet all of the state's total current requirements for four years. In an effort to ensure continued efficient operation of the project, NYPA is carrying out a $293 million upgrade of the 13 turbine-generators at the project's Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, with the work planned for completion in 2006. The improvements will permit increased power production at times of greatest need but will not increase the project's overall output.

NEW YORK: NYPA Helps Make Police HQ Energy Efficient— The Power Authority has installed a new electric centralized cooling system and an emergency backup diesel generator to improve the reliability of service at New York City Police headquarters at One Police Plaza in downtown Manhattan. The standby diesel generator will assure uninterrupted cooling of critical areas and keep lines of communication open in the event of a loss of outside power. The $3,600,000 project, initiated in late 1999, also included an electrical service upgrade, permitting a return to operation of existing ventilation and air conditioning apparatus. The project will improve energy efficiency, meet increasing cooling demands and reduce maintenance costs at the 17-story headquarters of the nation's largest police department.

In the Community: NYPA staff members participated in Galway elementary school's career day and presented an energy-education program at St. Mary's School, Potsdam, Jan. 26….Power Authority representatives met with the Bronx Borough Board on the small gas-turbine generators scheduled to be in operation in the borough by the summer, Jan 25.…Career Day at Public School 166, Queens, got an extra boost from a Power Authority staff discussion of opportunities in the electricity industry, Jan. 24….Canajoharie High School students viewed an electric vehicle demonstration and a presentation on NYPA’s Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project, at the facility's visitors center, North Blenheim, Jan. 19…. In the second half of January, staff members at NYPA's Niagara Power Project, Lewiston, presented energy-education programs and electricity demonstrations at schools in Niagara Falls, Lackawanna, Lockport, Falconer, East Aurora, Kenmore, Dunkirk, Amherst, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, Jamestown and Buffalo….The Power Authority's draft application for the relicensing of its St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project, Massena, is available for review in the relicensing section of NYPA's web site (www.stl.nypa.gov) and at area libraries. The project's current 50-year federal license expires in 2003.