MASSENA: St. Lawrence-FDR Project Upgrade Marks Milestone— The Life Extension and Modernization Program at NYPA's St. Lawrence-Franklin Delano Roosevelt Power Project moved a giant step forward on May 2 with the arrival of the first of 16 new turbines as part of a 15-year, $254 million project upgrade. "This high priority effort is part of Governor George E. Pataki's vision of extending the Power Authority's ability to produce clean, dependable, low-cost energy and preserve jobs in the North Country," said NYPA Chairman Joseph J. Seymour. The stainless-steel turbine, which resembles an oversized power boat propeller, is 19 feet wide and 12 feet high and weighs 40 tons. Design advances will permit it to produce more power from the same amount of water at the project, which has supplied some of the nation's least expensive electricity for more than four decades. With the project's 15 remaining turbines scheduled to be replaced at a rate of about three units every two years to minimize production losses, the upgrade is expected to be completed in 2013.

QUEENS: Combined-Cycle Proposal Moves Ahead—The state Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment has scheduled a public hearing for June 4 in Long Island City on the Power Authority 's proposal to build a 500-megawatt combined-cycle power plant next to its Charles Poletti Power Project in Astoria. The board set the stage for the hearing, at P.S. 122, starting at 6:30 p.m., by announcing on April 30 that it had accepted as complete NYPA's application for the plant. The Power Authority is required to obtain a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need before beginning construction. Fueled by natural gas, with low sulfur oil as a backup, the plant will be one of the cleanest and most efficient electric generating facilities in New York City's history.

NEW YORK: NYPA to Renew Incentives to Cut Energy Use— Building on its successful Peak Load Management (PLM) program launched last summer, the Power Authority is again offering its New York City government and business electricity customers a monetary incentive to switch on their own back-up generators or turn off non-essential equipment at times of peak power demand. On four occasions last year, NYPA asked seven major customers to implement the program at their in-city facilities, for a total reduction of about 17,000 kilowatts at 19 locations. PLM incentives of $40 per kilowatt saved during the June-September period added up to about $632,000 for those customers. The Power Authority is planning to bring PLM to at least 10 additional customer locations for the coming summer. The program is part of Gov. George E. Pataki's efforts to ensure clean, reliable energy supplies. Measures include NYPA's extensive energy-efficiency programs, which significantly reduce electricity use at public facilities in the city throughout the year.

BUFFALO: Pan-Am Expo Centennial Features NYPA 3-D Slides— A NYPA-produced multimedia 3-D slide presentation on turn-of-the-century Buffalo is a highlight of the 100th anniversary celebration of the historic 1901 Pan-American Exposition, now at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society at 25 Nottingham Court. The half-hour presentation uses original photographs from the exposition, with an accompanying narration on how Buffalo became the Electric City, when it was the site of the first long distance transmission of electricity. Employees at the photo lab at NYPA's Niagara Power Project, Lewiston, gathered more than 100 original stereopticon cards—two identical photos from slightly different angles—from private and public collections, digitally scanned and enhanced them, and transferred them to slide film. Visitors to the centennial exhibition wear polarized glasses to view the 3-D images on a 12-foot screen. The historical society's retrospective, titled Spirit of the City, Imagining the Pan-American Exposition, runs until Jan. 13, 2002.

DOVER PLAINS: NYPA, Con Ed Team Repairs Key Power Link— NYPA-Consolidated Edison teamwork this past winter will help ensure a steady flow of electricity during the summer peak-demand season. Repair teams dispatched in March to a remote area here completed repairs to an important Con Ed transmission line between New York and Connecticut with the aid of a NYPA aerial lift, a tracked vehicle equipped with a 110-foot boom. The bulldozer-like aerial lift, traveling through areas not easily served by other types of vehicles, permitted faster repairs to overheating tower conductor fittings, avoiding an extended shutdown of the critical power link. NYPA purchased the vehicle last year for maintenance of its more than 1,400 circuit miles of high-voltage transmission lines.

ALBANY: NYPA Marks 70 Years of Service to New York State— The Power Authority marked its 70th anniversary on April 27, at a time of significant change in the electric power industry and major new challenges for the Authority itself. "As the Power Authority reaches this important milestone, its value to New York State has never been greater," Gov. George E. Pataki said. "NYPA gives New York a key advantage as the power business moves into a new age of deregulation and competition. It is a vital part of our efforts to assure reliable, affordable electricity for all New Yorkers, to create and retain private-sector jobs and to protect the environment." On April 27, 1931, Franklin D. Roosevelt, then governor of New York, signed legislation creating the Power Authority for the purpose of harnessing the St. Lawrence River's International Rapids for hydroelectric power production. NYPA, which uses no tax dollars, has since grown into the nation's largest state-owned electric utility, with 10 power plants and the state's largest high-voltage transmission network.

In the Community: The visitors center at NYPA's Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project, North Blenheim, was scheduled to present a special Mother's Day gift to mothers visiting the facility, May 13….A Power Authority electric vehicle (EV) was scheduled to participate in a parade celebrating the Middleburgh Little League's 50th anniversary, May 12.…Power Authority EVs were slated to be on view at General Electric's Take Your Son to Work Day, Schenectady, and the Great Lakes Student Summit, co-sponsored by NYPA, Adams-Mark Hotel, Buffalo, May 10….The Power Authority's White Plains headquarters building, recently named in honor of former NYPA Chairman C.D. "Rapp" Rappleyea, has garnered a Building of the Year Award from the Building Owners and Managers Association of Westchester County. The award was scheduled to be presented at the association's Tenth Annual Hall of Honor Awards Dinner, at Tappan Hill, Tarrytown, May 10….A Power Authority EV was on display at the Pan-American Exposition Centennial Rededication Day Parade, Buffalo, May 6….The Blenheim-Gilboa project visitors center played host to a mammography clinic sponsored by the Bassett Hospital mobile unit, May 4….NYPA President Eugene Zeltmann spoke at the J.P. Morgan Public Power Conference at the Marriott Marquis, Manhattan, on NYPA's sale of its two nuclear power plants, May 3….NYPA co-sponsored the annual Niagara/Orleans Counties Envirothon, Bonds Lake Conservation Center, Lewiston, May 3….NYPA representatives met with members of Community Board 1 on Staten Island to discuss the small gas turbine-generator that NYPA is installing in the borough, May 3….The Power Authority sponsored the Tonawanda Junior High School Art Science and Technology Fair, May 2….Shalom Zelingher, NYPA's director of research and technology development, presented an overview of distributed generation technologies at an Earth Day New York educational forum, Buildings, Economics and the Environment, City University of New York Graduate Center, Manhattan, May 1. NYPA also presented a display on its energy-efficiency programs.