QUEENS: NYPA Breaks Ground for Power Plant in Astoria—The Power Authority broke ground on Nov. 6 for a 500-megawatt generating plant in Astoria that will make a major contribution toward meeting New York City's future electricity requirements and air-quality concerns. The $650-million facility, the largest generating plant to be built in the city since NYPA's adjacent Charles Poletti Power Project a quarter century ago, is scheduled to begin operation by the summer of 2005. As many as 650 workers, representing nearly 15 local labor unions, are expected to be employed at the peak of the plant's construction. Using sophisticated combined-cycle technology and advanced pollution controls, the natural gas- and low-sulfur oil-fueled plant will be one of the city's cleanest and most efficient generators. The new facility will permit the closing of the Poletti project as soon as 2008 under an agreement announced by Gov. George E. Pataki in September. The agreement, among the Power Authority, environmental groups and Queens officials, will also limit the Poletti project's operation, starting next year, and commits NYPA to invest an additional $50 million over five years in energy-efficiency and clean energy projects in Queens and other parts of the city.

BUFFALO: Energy Upgrades to Brighten, Warm Public Schools— NYPA has begun an $8.7 million energy-efficiency upgrade at 23 public school buildings here in the latest in a series of improvements that are reducing taxpayers' costs while enhancing the learning environment for students. The current work, planned for completion by next summer, includes installation of new lighting fixtures, which will cut energy use and improve illumination in classrooms, parking lots and outdoor areas; and new energy management systems to provide better control of building temperatures. Some schools will also receive new boilers. The improvements will bring local taxpayers' annual savings to more that $1 million since the Power Authority began energy-efficiency projects at the schools a decade ago. NYPA recovers its investment by sharing in the schools' energy savings. Almost $1 million from New York State’s share of the Petroleum Overcharge Restitution fund and a quarter-million-dollar rebate from the state's Energy Research and Development Authority are also being used for the current work.

SYRACUSE: Pataki Announces Innovative SUNY Energy Project— Gov. George E. Pataki announced on Oct. 23 that the Power Authority is partnering with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to bring a fuel cell-based combined heat-and-power system to the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) in Syracuse. NYPA will assist with the design and installation of the 250-kilowatt molten-carbonate fuel cell, the first of its kind in New York and one of only about five in the nation. SUNY ESF will also receive a $1 million NYSERDA grant for the project. The fuel cell will provide on-site power generation, and waste heat from the unit will be used for domestic hot water, space heating or space cooling on the campus. The project will play a role in the campus's efforts to comply with the Governor's Executive Order 111, which directs state facilities to purchase 10 percent of their power from renewable resources by 2005 and 20 percent by 2010.

LEWISTON: Facilitator to Assist in Niagara Project Relicensing— Stakeholder groups participating in the upcoming relicensing of NYPA's Niagara Power Project have selected a professional facilitator to assist in the environmental review process required under the National Environmental Policy Act. CDR Associates of Boulder, Colo., will help the Power Authority, state and federal regulatory agencies and stakeholders in developing the scope of an applicant-prepared environmental assessment, which will be submitted as part of NYPA's application for a new license for the Niagara project. At scoping meetings, scheduled to begin in January, relicensing stakeholders will work with CDR Associates to identify project-related issues to be addressed in the environmental assessment. The project's original 50-year license expires in 2007; NYPA expects to file its application for a new license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by 2005. For more information, visit: http://niagara.nypa.gov

MARCY: Record Ton-Plus of Food Collected for Food Bank— Employees of the Power Authority's Clark Energy Center and Energy Control Center here bettered their 2001 record-high collection of canned and packaged foods by donating 2,475 pounds to the Utica Food Bank. The foods, including more than 1,000 pounds of potatoes, are destined for needy families throughout Oneida County. NYPA’s local employees have donated increasing amounts of food since the food bank's Fall Harvest holiday effort began some six years ago. For collecting the most foods of any organization in its category, the NYPA facilities’ employees earned the food bank's Golden Can award.

In the Community: The Niagara Power Project's visitors' center was scheduled to play host to a Niagara University hospitality seminar, Lewiston, Nov. 7. The Niagara Mohawk Management Club held a dinner meeting at the center, Nov. 1….Sierra Devlin of Middleburgh, Celia Rose Morciglio of Gilboa and Mackenzie Jones of Medusa were winners in the prettiest costume category in the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project visitors center's Halloween costume contest, North Blenheim, Oct. 26....Christopher deGraffenried of Mahopac, NYPA's director, Regional Transmission Organization marketing development, has been named chair-elect of the American Public Power Association's Business and Financial Section for 2002-2003.