ALBANY: Governor Proposes New Power for Jobs Legislation—Gov. George E. Pataki has announced the introduction of legislation to continue his highly successful Power for Jobs program, which has helped to create or retain approximately 300,000 jobs throughout the state since 1997. Employers served by the Power Authority-administered program, including major manufacturers, hospitals, colleges, cultural institutions, small family firms, farms and agribusinesses, save from 10 to 25 percent on their electricity bills. "After the program's very successful first three years, the Governor and Legislature approved additional megawatts for Power for Jobs in 2000,"said Louis Ciminelli, NYPA's acting chairman. "All of that additional power was allocated by July of last year." Similar to previous legislation, the Governor's proposal, making available another 183 megawatts, would enable employers with expiring Power for Jobs contracts to apply for new allocations. In return for the lower-priced power, recipients pledge to maintain or create a specific number of jobs. Power for Jobs customers have achieved an average of about 105 percent of their total job commitments.

ALBANY: NYPA President Urges Three-Part Energy Strategy—NYPA President Gene Zeltmann called on March 5 for a three-pronged approach to meeting the state's electricity needs and warned that the current easing in growth of demand for power is a temporary respite that should be used to prepare for the future. "The blueprint for New York's energy future should resemble a three-legged stool—one balanced on generation, transmission and energy efficiency," Zeltmann said in testimony at a public hearing on the Draft State Energy Plan. He noted that the Power Authority is playing vital roles in strengthening each of these areas while also using its low-cost electricity to help protect nearly 420,000 jobs at businesses and non-profit organizations. Testifying at the hearing conducted by the State Energy Planning Board, which prepared the draft plan, Zeltmann said the national economic downturn and the events of Sept. 11 have slowed growth in electricity use, but that this trend would not continue. "As the economy recovers, the ongoing growth in the demand for electricity will certainly accelerate," he told the panel at the state Department of Environmental Conservation building. "We must take advantage of this brief respite and view it as an opportunity to prepare for the future."

LEWISTON: Alternative Process Sought for Project Relicensing—NYPA has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve an alternative approach to the relicensing of the Niagara Power Project that would allow the public to participate in the process from the beginning. The traditional relicensing format restricts public participation until much later in the process, which often takes several years to complete. The current 50-year license for the Niagara project, New York State's largest generating facility, expires in 2007. NYPA officials have already begun an extensive outreach effort targeting federal and state resource agencies, the Tuscarora Nation, the project's industrial and municipal electric system customers and other organized groups. "The alternative licensing approach will solicit [community] input starting with the pre-application phase, ensuring that the application reflects the concerns and priorities of the various stakeholders," said NYPA Acting Chairman Louis Ciminelli. The formal start of NYPA's alternative relicensing process is expected to begin with the release of an initial informational package for stakeholders in late 2002 or early 2003. Informational meetings would follow the release of the informational package.

NIAGARA FALLS: Lack of Ice Prompts Early Removal of Boom—The steel pontoons and cables of the Lake Erie-Niagara River ice boom were removed by Power Authority crews on March 7, one of the earliest openings of the boom. NYPA and Ontario Power Generation install the 8,800-foot-long span at the east end of Lake Erie each winter to help form a stable ice cover and prevent ice floes from heading into the Niagara River, where they could clog hydroelectric-project water intakes downstream. Because of the mild winter, Lake Erie remained ice free this season, which also expedited removal of the ice boom. The earliest removal of the ice boom, first installed in 1964, was on March 5, 1998; the latest date on record was May 3, 1971. For more information and aerial views of the ice boom, visit www.iceboom.nypa.gov.

WHITE PLAINS: NYPA Wins APPA Safety Award for Sixth Year—The Power Authority has earned the American Public Power Association's (APPA) highest award for safe operating practices for the sixth consecutive year. NYPA won the award, in the category for utilities with 2-to-4 million worker-hours of annual worker exposure, by logging the lowest rate of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses as defined by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration during 2001. The APPA, representing more than 2,000 not-for-profit community- and state-owned electric utilities, presented the award on March 12 at its annual Engineering and Operations Technical Conference in Colorado Springs.

NORTH BLENHEIM: Easter Bunny to Visit NYPA Projects—Kids in the Schoharie Valley know that if they want to catch sight of the Easter Bunny, their best bet is to pay a visit to the Power Authority's Blenheim Gilboa Power Project visitors center. He's shown up here for the past 12 years, drawing throngs of kids and parents who come for Easter gifts and to have their photo taken with him. This year's Easter Adventure for children aged 8 and under will take place March 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Flowers and Buttons the clowns will also make the trip in their souped-up Volkswagen bug, Buttercup. On Saturday, March 30, the Easter Bunny will move on to NYPA's Niagara Power Project in Lewiston, where he will preside over an egg hunt and pose for photos with visitors. The event will be held at the Power Vista visitors center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In the Community: Members of the Suffolk County Economic Development Council toured the Richard M. Flynn Power Plant, Holtsville, March 12….NYPA President Gene Zeltmann spoke to the Bronxville Rotary on the Power Authority's role in Westchester County, March 11….Cathy Blood, senior community relations representative, spoke to the Niagara Falls Women's Club on The Power Authority: Benefiting Western New York, March 11….Power Authority exhibits were on display at the Greater Community Expo, Lockport, March 7-9 and at the Liverpool Central School Science Fair, March 5…The Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project's visitors center played host to a meeting for the Gilboa Historical Society, Feb. 17.