GUILDERLAND: NYISO Study Finds Generation Shortfall—The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has found that additional electricity generating capacity must be sited in New York City by this summer to ensure reliable service. A recent NYISO study determined that with New York City's load expected to reach 10,535 megawatts (mw) this summer, 8,428 mw of capacity will be required in the city to meet demand reliably. The city currently has 8,132 mw, a shortage of 296 mw. The study forecast that even more capacity will be needed after the summer of 2001 to serve load reliably unless demand growth abates. To meet those needs, the Power Authority is working to install 10 gas-turbine generators, with a combined capacity of more than 400 mw, in the city by the summer. NYPA is putting an additional generator in Brentwood, on Long Island, where capacity is 131 mw below requirements. The gas turbines are the only generators that could be ready in time to satisfy NYISO's reliability standards this summer.

NEW YORK: ABNY Backs NYPA Generator Program—The Association for a Better New York (ABNY) has strongly endorsed NYPA's program to install 10 gas-turbine generators in New York City by the summer, warning that without the units, "the effects on the City's economy and the lives of our citizens could be disastrous." "We firmly believe these units are necessary to avert potentially devastating power shortages and price spikes in the summer's peak demand period," Lewis Rudin, ABNY's chairman, wrote in a recent letter to the Power Authority. He noted that Electricity Outlook: A Matter of Urgency, a report issued by ABNY and other organizations, states that "unless immediate action is taken to provide additional supply, New Yorkers could well experience routine spikes in the price of electricity, brownouts and even blackouts as early as this summer." The report concludes that the NYPA gas turbines appear to represent "the only immediate potential for additional supply in New York City," Rudin wrote. He added that in addition to citing a need for accelerating the siting process for large power plants, the report calls for encouraging energy conservation and increased use of alternative energy: "areas in which we know NYPA is heavily involved."

WHITE PLAINS: Westchester Agency Obtains Economical Power— An additional 10,000-kilowatt allocation of economical power for the County of Westchester Public Utility Service Agency (COWPUSA) was approved by Power Authority trustees on Feb. 20 to spur the growth of businesses and jobs in the county. The new allocation doubles the amount of power that COWPUSA receives from a block reserved for municipal utility service agencies in New York State for industrial economic development. Six Westchester businesses and not-for-profit organizations, employing nearly 1,500 people, now receive NYPA power as COWPUSA customers: Englehard Corp., Peekskill; Excelsior Transparent Bag, Yonkers; Precision Valve, Yonkers; World Class Film, Yonkers; Montefiore Medical Center, Yonkers; and Ciba Specialty, Tarrytown. NYPA President Gene Zeltmann said the additional power promised to add to the total of more than 18,000 jobs in the county that are now linked to various allocation programs administered by the Power Authority.

ONEIDA: Power for Jobs Aids Expansion at H.P. Hood—H.P. Hood, a major regional dairy producer, has committed to add 10 positions and maintain 184 existing jobs in return for a three-year allocation of low-cost electricity under Governor George E. Pataki's Power for Jobs^TM program. The company's plant here processes the output of dairy farms throughout Central New York. Its new employees will staff a new production line at the Madison County facility, where H.P. Hood recently installed high-efficiency electric motors and energy-saving lighting as part of an ongoing capital investment program. The allocation to the company was made possible by legislation last spring renewing the NYPA-administered Power for Jobs program, which is linked to more than 262,000 jobs across the state.

BRONX: NYPA Funds Engineering for Footbridge—Power Authority trustees on Feb. 20 approved $500,000 in funding for the engineering of a footbridge between the Bronx and Randall's Island. The footbridge would improve non-vehicular access to Randall's Island for community-based recreational and commuter purposes. It would also facilitate the future development on Randall's Island of recreation and open spaces for the residents of the Bronx. During discussions about the placement of four NYPA gas-turbine generators in the borough, Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer had indicated interest in the bridge as part of the Bronx's development program.

POTSDAM: NYPA to Sponsor Robotics Team—For the second year in a row, the Power Authority is helping to fund a team of about 50 Clarkson University and Massena, Salmon River and Colton Pierrepont high school students in a robotics engineering design competition. The business and engineering students and their advisers designed and built a robot earlier this year, gaining experience in teamwork and developing scientific, mathematical and technological skills vital for future engineers, scientists and business executives. The robot will be entered in a regional competition at Suffolk Community College's Brentwood, Long Island, campus March 8-10. More than 500 similar teams will place robots in 13 regional competitions and one national contest this spring.

NORTH BLENHEIM: World Travelogue Series Returns— The popular World Travelogue Series will return on consecutive Sundays this month to NYPA's Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project visitors center here. The fascinating slide shows will kick off on March 4 with breathtaking views and interesting commentary on Australia and New Zealand. The series will continue with a tour of Eastern Europe on the 11th, a trek through India on the 18th and a virtual boat trip down the Rhine River on the 25th. All programs will begin at 2 p.m. in the visitors center's theater and last about an hour, with light refreshments served afterwards. Reservations are required, as seating is limited. For more information on the travel series or other special events planned at the visitors center, call (800) 724-0309.

In the Community: A Power Authority-co-sponsored hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres Alumni and the Damn Yankees, a local adult team, to raise funds for youth hockey was scheduled to be held at the Niagara University ice rink, Niagara Falls, March 2. NYPA was to exhibit an electric vehicle before the game….Public outreach efforts in connection with the small electric generators the Power Authority is installing in New York City and Suffolk County were scheduled to continue with a presentation by Luis Rodriguez, a NYPA community relations manager, to the LaGuardia Kiwanis Club, Queens, March 1. NYPA representatives also discussed the generators with the Bronx Borough Board, Feb. 22, and the district manager of Bronx Community Board #1, Feb. 16….The East Yonkers Rotary Club heard Sobeida Cruz, a Power Authority community relations manager, speak on Deregulation of the Utility Industry, Feb. 27, and Brian Warner, a NYPA senior policy specialist, made a presentation on Energy Sources of the Future to the East Yonkers Kiwanis Club, Feb. 21….Lori Presti, a senior tour guide at the Power Authority's Niagara Power Project, Lewiston, spoke to the Alterra Clare Bridge Senior Center on Electrical Safety in the Home, Williamsville, Feb. 21…The Power Authority's proposed combined-cycle power plant in Astoria was the subject of a presentation by Rodriguez to the AARP's Flushing chapter, Feb. 14.