NEWS
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NYPA ‘Power To Schools’ Program Set for April 18 in Utica Contact: April 9, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UTICA—Area school officials will learn about a major opportunity to save energy and money when the New York Power Authority (NYPA) conducts a forum on its “Power to Schools” program at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 18 at the Radisson Hotel, 200 Genesee St., Utica. The forum, for officials from Oneida, Herkimer, Madison and Lewis counties, will include a presentation by John Hamor, NYPA’s executive director of state governmental relations, and Andrea Phillips, business development facilitator. School officials wishing to attend or to arrange energy audits of their facilities may contact Phillips at 914-391-5420 or by e-mail at Phillips.a@nypa.gov. The Power to Schools program was created by state legislation enacted in 2004 that authorizes NYPA to assist public and private schools throughout New York in carrying out energy efficiency projects and using clean energy technologies such as solar power and fuel cells. The law also allows the Power Authority to help schools buy economical electricity in New York State’s competitive power markets. “Energy efficiency is vital, at all times and in all places,” said Timothy S. Carey, NYPA’s president and chief executive officer. “But it’s particularly important in our schools, where every dollar not spent on energy can be spent directly for purely educational purposes, helping to meet critical needs while easing the burden on local taxpayers.” The Power to Schools program creates a partnership between the Power Authority and the State Education Department, which will be responsible for issuing the building permits required to perform energy efficiency work in school facilities. NYPA will oversee all phases of a project, beginning with an audit to identify energy-saving potential and continuing through installation of new lighting, boilers, chillers and other energy efficiency measures. The Authority will finance the work with low-interest loans and will recover its costs by sharing in the savings on energy bills, after which the participating district will retain all savings. The Power Authority recently completed its first Power to Schools project, at the Albany School District’s offices in a historic 191-year-old building. The work included replacement of the building’s inefficient steam boiler plant with two new boilers and installation of a new temperature control system. Statewide, the Power Authority has completed energy efficiency projects at almost 1,200 public school facilities under other programs. These projects annually save school districts and taxpayers about $32 million, replace nearly 418,000 barrels of oil and avoid emission of almost 195,000 tons of greenhouse gases. The Power to Schools program builds on the earlier efforts by authorizing participation by private schools and confirming NYPA’s ability to carry out projects in all public schools, including those that don’t obtain electricity from the Authority. The Utica forum is one in a series on the program that NYPA is conducting in various parts of the state. About NYPA: ■ NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. ■ NYPA is a leader in promoting energy-efficiency, new energy technologies and electric transportation initiatives. ■ It is the nation’s largest state-owned electric utility, with 18 generating facilities in various parts of the state and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. |
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