NYPA Urges Support for State World Trade
                           Center Relief Fund 
The Power Authority family extends deepest sympathy to our colleagues at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and other state agencies and, indeed, everyone who has lost loved ones or friends in the tragic events of Sept. 11. We also applaud the heroic men and women who, at great personal risk, have dedicated themselves to the rescue and recovery efforts. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all as Americans come together in the true New York spirit, with unshakable resolve and faith in the future. NYPA joins Gov. George E. Pataki in urging everyone to support the emergency-response and victim-support effort by contributing to the New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund. Donate online at http://www.helping.org/wtc/ny/nystate.htm , call (800) 801-8092 or send a check or money order to New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund, P.O. Box 5028, Albany, NY 12205.

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NEW YORK: NYPA Completes Phaseout of School Coal Furnaces— Old, polluting coal furnaces that used to heat New York City's public schools are now a thing of the past, thanks, in part, to the Power Authority-administered Clean Air for Schools Program (CASP) and a separate NYPA initiative. In all, NYPA oversaw the installation of clean, modern boilers, fueled by natural gas or oil, at 79 public schools in the city, complementing work done at other schools by the city's School Construction Authority. Each school will save about $60,000 a year in energy and maintenance costs, and children and adults will benefit as well from the removal of millions of pounds of harmful emissions from the city's air each year. NYPA has also replaced the last school coal furnaces elsewhere in the state, at six schools in Buffalo and one on Long Island. CASP funding came from Gov. George E. Pataki's Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act of 1996. Furnaces at 12 schools were replaced with funds from NYPA and the federal Petroleum Overcharge Restitution Fund.

SCHENECTADY: Zeltmann Cites NYPA's Benefits to Capital Area— The Capital District's economy and environment are benefiting from varied Power Authority programs as the state's electricity industry heads further into a new era of deregulation and competition, NYPA President Eugene W. Zeltmann said in a recent appearance here. He told the Schenectady Rotary Club on Sept. 6 that more than 18,000 jobs in the region depend on low-cost electricity supplied by the Authority to businesses and not-for profit organizations under Gov. George E. Pataki's Power For Jobs program and other initiatives. Zeltmann cited recipients ranging from Power Palet and MVP in Schenectady to Codino's Italian Foods in Scotia and Albany Molecular Research, and noted that 821,000 new jobs had been created statewide since Governor Pataki took office. He also said NYPA has invested about $20 million in energy-saving measures at such Capital District public facilities as Schenectady City Hall, the Scotia-Glenville schools, Empire State Plaza, Albany International Airport and the State University of New York at Albany, saving taxpayers more than $3 million a year and helping to improve air quality.

LONG ISLAND: Energy Upgrades Save Taxpayers $12 Million— More than 100 diversified Power Authority energy-efficiency projects, installed over the last decade at schools and other public facilities on Long Island, save taxpayers about $12 million in annual energy costs. Projects range from new boilers, chillers and roofing upgrades at the Village of Valley Stream to improved climate controls at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the Suffolk County State Office Building in Hauppauge to brighter, more efficient lighting at dozens of schools from Valley Stream to Southold. Lighting and boiler improvements provided by NYPA have earned the Sachem Central School District national Energy Star recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (and $500,000 in annual savings), the first such honor in New York State and only the second in the nation. The Power Authority recovers the cost of the projects, estimated at more than $75 million, by sharing in the energy savings. NYPA's energy services program is a key component of Gov. George E. Pataki's efforts to encourage energy efficiency at state and local government buildings.

NIAGARA FALLS: NYPA Chairman Promotes MEUA Jobs Effort— NYPA Chairman Joseph Seymour has urged the state's municipal and rural cooperative electric systems to take advantage of an existing Power Authority program specifically tailored to create jobs in their service territories. Speaking at the Municipal Electric Utilities Association (MEUA)'s annual meeting here on Aug. 28, Seymour noted that the program makes available 108 megawatts (mw)—half hydropower and the rest from other sources—for new and expanding businesses that commit to add jobs in the public systems. Allocation of 30 mw to date has helped create about 2,000 jobs. "Let's join with the Empire State Development Corporation to let new and expanding businesses know all about the potential sites in your service territories and the benefits your communities have to offer," Seymour said. "Together, we can attract businesses that will create jobs, pay taxes, improve your communities and let your kids find work right in their own hometowns." The Power Authority supplies low-cost power to the state's 51 municipal systems and rural cooperatives for use by residents and businesses.

UTICA: NYPA Helps Honor State’s Top Conservationists— Harry Probst, a longtime president of the Chautauqua County Federation of Sportsmen, and Bruce Penrod, a senior wildlife biologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, were named the New York State Conservation Council's Conservationists of the Year at an annual awards dinner here on Sept. 14, in a competition co-sponsored by the Power Authority. The awards recognize a conservation professional and a volunteer for outstanding contributions in preserving and enhancing the state’s natural resources. Probst, who twice served as president of the state council, gained the volunteer honor for his long service as a hunter-training instructor and major role in the renovation of the Chautauqua Lake muskie-walleye hatchery. Penrod, who won in the professional category, was instrumental in bringing the river otter back to Central and Western New York after an absence of more than a century.

In the Community—NYPA’s St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project, Massena, was scheduled to sponsor the second annual Dam 4 Miler walk/run/roller blader event, benefiting the Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley, Sept. 23....A full day of free family fun featuring live animals. music and interactive worshops was scheduled at the visitors centers at NYPA’s Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project, North Blenheim; Niagara Power Project, Lewiston; and St. Lawrence-FDR project, Sept. 22....A Power Authority exhibit was slated to be displayed at the annual meeting of the New York State Business Council, Bolton Landing, Sept. 19-21....The Catskill Forest Association held its annual meeting at the Blenheim-Gilboa Project's visitors center, Sept. 15….The World Trade Center of Buffalo and Niagara held its Trade Tuesday meeting at the Niagara project's visitors center, and participants toured the project, Sept. 11.