NEW YORK: Clean School-Bus Program Leads Nation—A $23 million Power Authority initiative to offset emissions of air pollutants in four New York City boroughs will feature a groundbreaking $6 million program to install pollution-control systems in 1,000 school buses. The PowerNow! Emission Offset program will fulfill NYPA's pledge to neutralize air emissions generated by its 10 small natural gas-fired turbines in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. NYPA will finance, administer and implement the program with assistance from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Diesel particulate filters outfitted on the buses will be above and beyond any legal requirements and mark New York as the first state in the nation to use such technology for a large fleet of school buses. The offset program will also include the installation of eight non-polluting fuel cells at wastewater treatment plants in the city, plus other energy-efficiency and emission-reduction measures. Overall, the program will result in the removal of 227 tons of air pollutants a year, well above levels of emissions expected from operation of the turbines. NYPA previously launched a major effort to offset emissions from an 11th turbine, in Brentwood on Long Island, through energy-efficiency projects in the Brentwood School District.

WHITE PLAINS: NYPA TH!NK Clean Commute Picks Up Speed— By the numbers, it's a hit: The nation's largest electric-vehicle station-car demonstration program, launched in October, has prompted more than 600 inquiries to the Power Authority. Ford Motor Co. is screening close to 300 applications to lease the 100 compact electric Th!nk city vehicles available under the NYPA-sponsored initiative. Participants will receive prime parking spots fitted with electrical hookups providing complimentary "fuel" for their vehicles at eight Metropolitan Transportation Authority train stations—Brewster North, Putnam County; Chappaqua and White Plains, Westchester County; Hicksville, Nassau County; Huntington, Suffolk County; Kew Gardens and Little Neck, Queens County; and Nanuet, Rockland County. The first TH!NK vehicles are scheduled for delivery by the end of the month. The program is designed to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion as well as promote national energy independence. For more information, call 1-800-252-4221.

NEW YORK: Power for Jobs Exceeds Employment Commitments—The more than 200 companies and not-for profit organizations receiving electricity through NYPA’s Power for Jobs program collectively have exceeded their employment commitments by 8,396 positions, a report prepared for the Power Authority has revealed. In return for the low-cost power, recipients pledge to create or maintain jobs. The program supports more than 300,000 jobs statewide. "Ever since Governor Pataki first proposed the Power for Jobs program, it has regularly exceeded the most optimistic goals we've set for it," said NYPA Chairman Joseph Seymour. The quarterly audit covered 202 companies that began receiving power during the fourth quarters of 1998 and 1999 and the first quarters of 1998, 1999 and 2000. Of 17 participants below the 90 percent threshold for retaining their full power allocations, NYPA reduced the job commitment of one and left unchanged the commitments of the other 16 because of anticipated improvements. The Power Authority terminated the contracts of 12 other customers that had either not reported their job levels, withdrawn from the program, gone out of business or filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.


UTICA: NYPA Energy Upgrades Aid Fire Department—The Power Authority is installing energy-saving lighting at six firehouses here as part of a series of NYPA energy upgrades that will save the fire department—and taxpayers—about $15,000 a year in electricity costs. The improvements include state-of-the-art, high-efficiency boilers at three firehouses, where the Authority is also installing automated climate-control systems. The new boilers replaced 30-year-old units nearing the end of their useful lives. All improvements are scheduled for completion by the end of the month. The project's $173,000 cost was lowered through a $57,000 state grant from the Petroleum Overcharge Restitution Fund. NYPA provided the remainder of the funding and will recover its investment by sharing in the energy savings.

MASSENA: Scouts Help NYPA Establish New Wetlands— The Power Authority enlisted the help of about a dozen members of Boy Scout Troop 41 in creating two and a half acres of new wetlands at NYPA's St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project here. NYPA provided the scouts with 675 ready-to-plant shrubs that are indigenous to the region—including dogwood, burr marigold and water plantain—to provide food and habitat for wetland birds, mammals and amphibians. The custom-made wetlands replaced a smaller parcel that had been removed for construction of a new power project road. For their efforts, the scouts earned achievement credits, a Power Authority financial contribution to the troop and the appreciation of migratory shorebirds, which are already visiting the site.

WHITE PLAINS: NYPA Headquarters Wins Beautification Award— The Clarence D. Rappleyea Building, the Power Authority-owned headquarters facility here, has again received recognition for the high standards of its building-and-grounds maintenance and upkeep. NYPA was honored at a Nov. 19 luncheon of the White Plains Beautification Foundation for its "interest in the beautification of White Plains," said Sally Coe, the foundation's president. A certificate presented to Susan Egginton, NYPA's director of corporate services, cited the Rappleyea property's landscaping and expanded and more decorative bus stop, as well as the landscaping and lighting of the complex's adjoining parking garage. The building, named for NYPA's former chairman, was honored earlier this year as the government Building of the Year by the Westchester County Building Owners and Managers Association.

In the Community: For the fifth year in a row, NYPA employees at the Fredrick R. Clark Energy Center in Marcy have broken their own record by donating almost 2,400 pounds of food to the Utica Food Bank. The drive, part of the food bank's Fall Harvest holiday effort, sponsored in part by NYPA, feeds about 1,200 people a month. The Power Authority employees' total, which bested their previous record by over 150 pounds, included potatoes, flour, canned vegetables and fruit, along with other items….The Power Authority co-sponsored the Lewiston Chiropractic 5K run, and a NYPA electric vehicle served as the pace car for the Lewiston Christmas walk, Dec. 1….More than 600 people attended a Christmas celebration for children at the Blenheim Gilboa Power Project's visitors center, North Blenheim, Dec. 1….The staff of the Blenheim-Gilboa project donated a decorated Christmas tree for the Schoharie Valley Historical Society's Christmas in Schoharie, at the Old Stone Fort Museum, Schoharie, Nov. 30….Bill Siddon, senior community relations representative, made presentations on The Basics of Electricity at Colton-Pierrepoint Elementary School, Colton, Nov. 28, and Eastside Elementary School, Gouverneur, Nov. 20….The Niagara Frontier Task Force, representing the tourism industry in Western New York, held its monthly meeting at the Niagara Power Project's visitors center, Lewiston, Nov. 14.