ALBANY: NYPA Expands Energy-Saving Refrigerator Program— The Power Authority has joined forces with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal to reduce electricity costs in public housing with energy-efficient refrigerators. The initiative will build on the success of NYPA's pioneering refrigerator replacement program with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Since 1995, NYPA has installed more than 160,000 high-efficiency refrigerators in NYCHA apartments, saving $5.5 million a year in energy costs and helping to avoid almost 67,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. The NYPA/NYCHA program, scheduled to replace 181,000 units by 2003, has served as a model for more than 100 public housing authorities and electric utilities from North Carolina to Alaska. The new refrigerator replacement program pursues the objectives of the 2002 State Energy Plan, which calls for a 25 percent decrease in state energy use below 1990 levels by 2010, and Gov. George E. Pataki's Executive Order 111, requiring a 35 percent reduction in energy use in state buildings by 2010.

SOUTH GLEN FALLS: Transfer of Power Supports 300 Jobs— Power Authority Chairman Louis P. Ciminelli announced on July 30 the transfer of lower-cost power from the Encore Paper Co. to SCA Tissue, N.A., for the operation of a paper recycling facility here that is one of the largest employers in Saratoga County. "The transfer of this economic power, totaling up to 20,000 kilowatts, will help ensure the protection of about 300 jobs," Ciminelli said. SCA purchased the facility from Encore Paper in November 2001. The transferred electricity is from a block of NYPA-supplied energy known as High Load Factor Power, for employers willing to make long-term commitments to expand their operations and add jobs. It is one of several allocation programs administered by NYPA, under the leadership of Gov. George E. Pataki, to promote the creation and retention of jobs throughout New York State.

LEWISTON: FERC Approves Alternative Hydro Licensing Plan— The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved the Power Authority's proposal to use an alternative licensing procedure (ALP) to seek a new federal license to continue to operate the Niagara Power Project here. In a July 15 letter, FERC said, "in light of the stakeholders support shown for using the ALP…(it) would be appropriate in this case because it would foster improved communications, participation and cooperation among the stakeholders, and ultimately expedite and reduce the cost of the relicensing process." The Power Authority's proposal combines into a single process the traditional two-step procedure of prefiling consultations with interested parties and the postfiling environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The ALP also lays out a timeline for relicensing the Niagara project, whose original license will expire in 2007. NYPA expects the process to begin by the end of this year.

NEW YORK: WTC Power Spurs Bank of New York Reopening— The Bank of New York's Barclay Street Technology and Operations Center, which had been badly damaged in the collapse of the World Trade Center, reopened on July 11 with a 950-kilowatt (kw) boost of low-cost power from the Power Authority. The allocation comes from an 80,000-kw block of World Trade Center Economic Recovery Power, designated for downtown businesses that were displaced or otherwise harmed by the Sept. 11 attacks. NYPA previously supplied the power to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for use at the trade center. Priced some 25 percent lower than standard commercial rates, Economic Recovery Power is targeted for employers returning to Lower Manhattan. The program is expected to save businesses and other organizations $6 million annually. Under legislation approved by Gov. George E. Pataki, NYPA had already approved allocations totaling 43,000 kw to several other firms, including American Express.

NIAGARA FALLS: NYPA Fuels New Start for Metals Company— Globe Metallurgical, Inc., is reopening its factory here and recalling 69 laid-off employees with the help of a package of state and local incentives, including a new, short-term allocation of low-cost electricity from the Power Authority. The company, which had suspended operation last December, laying off all but 11 workers, is investing $950,000 to repair two arc-furnaces that will improve the efficiency and cut the costs of its production of silicon metal and alloys. NYPA will provide Globe Metallurgical with a temporary allocation of 4,000 kilowatts (kw) from the Niagara Power Project, supplementing 43,000 kw of hydropower that the company had received before the plant closing. The additional allocation, through the end of the year, is intended to bridge the transition to the improved energy efficiency anticipated with the new furnace equipment. Globe Metallurgical is also eligible to apply for a $300,000 grant through the Empire State Development Corporation and enhanced tax credits under the Empire Zone Program.

WHITE PLAINS: Communications Effort Earns National Award— The Power Authority has won a national award for its multifaceted communications program to build public awareness of the NYPA/TH!NK Clean Commute Program, the nation's largest electric-vehicle station-car demonstration. NYPA received an Award of Excellence in APEX 2002, the 14th annual competition conducted by Communications Concepts of Springfield, Va., specialists in business communications and publications services. The award, in the Marketing & Public Relations Campaigns category, was based on graphic concept and design, editorial content and overall communications effectiveness and excellence. The communications program featured billboards at eight railroad stations where commuters can charge the electric vehicles while at work, brochures that included a TH!NK application, a Web site, press kits, newspaper advertisements and two eight-foot-high displays for a news conference to announce the program at Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal.

In the Community: A Power Authority electric vehicle and an exhibit on NYPA's Niagara Power Project visitors center were scheduled to be displayed at the Fleet Waterfest, Buffalo, August 3-4….The Power Authority was scheduled to sponsor the opening night concert by the recording group Rockapella at Peekskill Celebration 2002, Aug. 2. NYPA has been a major sponsor of Peekskill's annual summer festival since the event's inception six years ago.…The Power Authority was slated to donate a fiber-optic thermal-imaging camera to the Remsen Fire Company, one of the units set to respond to NYPA's Gregory B. Jarvis Plant in the event of an emergency, Aug. 2.…A NYPA-sponsored Syracuse Symphony Orchestra Pops concert at the Fort Stanwix National Monument featured rousing marches, tributes to the spirit of New York City after the World Trade Center disaster, and the bells and cannon fire of the 1812 Overture, Rome, July 27. The concert was a highlight of Rome's 18th annual summerlong Honor America Days, scheduled through Aug. 23….More than 800 people attended the fourth annual Antique Bottle, Insulator and Table-Top Collectibles Outdoor Swap Meet, hosted by the Power Authority's Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project visitors center, North Blenheim, July 27.…The Schoharie Valley Antique Auto Show, held at the Blenheim-Gilboa project's visitors center, drew a record number of cars and trucks and the largest crowd in the event's history, North Blenheim, July 21. Some 340 classic show cars and trucks competed, and more than 5,000 people attended the event.…Ron Ciamaga, Western New York regional manager, is the newest member of the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center Foundation's board of directors.