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Municipal Systems, NYPA
Use "Tree Power" Program to Help the Environment and Provide Savings
Contact
Michael Saltzman
914-390-8181
michael.saltzman@nypa.gov
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July 16, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WHITE PLAINS—New York State will be greener and
cooler in the coming years as a result of the New York Power
Authority’s (NYPA) Tree Power program. This is due to the nearly
1,100 trees purchased this year by 13 municipal electric systems,
served by NYPA, across New York State. The aim of the program is to
use the natural cooling of tree shade strategically located near
homes and buildings to reduce energy use during the peak summer
season helping lower energy costs.
“With the enthusiastic participation of the
Power Authority’s municipal systems, consumers will see the power of
green both in the cooling shade of trees and in the extra green in
their pockets,” said Eugene W. Zeltmann, NYPA’s president and chief
executive officer. “The program helps emphasize Governor George E.
Pataki’s track record of enhancing the natural beauty of New York
State with environmentally-smart energy saving know-how.”
Zeltmann added, “A study conducted by the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2001 found summer
temperatures to be as much as six degrees cooler in tree-shaded
neighborhoods than in others, thereby reducing demand for
electricity to run air conditioners and fans, and helping to lower
utility bills in the family budget.”
Participating municipal electric systems this
year are: the Villages of Bergen (20 trees), Endicott (20), Fairport
(100), Greene (60), Groton (18), Holley (60), Little Valley (50),
Mayville (50), Springville (18), Westfield (320), Lake Placid,
(150), Massena (208), and Mohawk (22).
Created by the American Public Power Association
(APPA) in 1991, Tree Power is a nationwide program encouraging
public utility customers to plant trees. Trees not only help
conserve energy but also improve air quality by absorbing carbon
dioxide emissions. The Power Authority’s participation was
immediate in 1991 with the planting, by the Jamestown Board of
Public Utilities, of the first sapling which is now a 32 foot
specimen. The Tree Power program has received enthusiastic support
from NYPA customers because of its application as both a
beautification process and an energy-saving program.
Originally designed by the Power Authority for
all of its municipal and rural electric cooperative customers,
NYPA’s Tree Power program was extended in 1995 to include NYPA’s
governmental customers in Southeastern New York. Participants
“buy-one-tree and get-one-free” from a selection of seven tree
varieties including ash, spruce and flowering trees. Participants
also receive instructions for proper care of the trees. The orders
are processed by the Baldwinsville based New York State Nursery/
Landscaping Association and were delivered this past spring.
While municipal electric systems participate
annually, government customers partake in the program biannually and
participated last year. The NYPA Tree Power program has planted
approximately 35,000 trees—nearly one and a half times as many trees
as are in New York City’s Central Park.
NYPA supplies low-cost clean energy, generated
by its hydroelectric facilities, to 51 municipal and rural electric
cooperatives throughout the state, which in turn provide their
customers with lower cost power. In addition to the Tree Power
program, the Power Authority has undertaken a wide ranging series of
energy-efficiency and clean energy initiatives at more than 2,500
public facilities which are saving New York’s taxpayers nearly $86
million annually in municipal electric costs and reducing
greenhouse-gas emission by 620,000 tons a year. . |
