NEWS
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Two New Hydropower Allocations Approved Tuesday for Buffalo-Niagara Region for 150 New Jobs Contact: July 31, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WHITE PLAINS—The New York Power Authority (NYPA) Trustees Tuesday approved low-cost hydropower allocations to underpin multimillion dollar expansions by two Western New York manufacturers, including one to Moog, Inc., the aerospace and defense industry contractor, which is planning to add 140 new jobs to its existing work force of approximately 2,300. “Moog’s plans for expanding its East Aurora facility demonstrate the ability of Western New York manufacturers to capitalize on job growth opportunities, and we’re delighted to be supporting this with the low-cost hydropower from our Niagara Power Project,” said Frank S. McCullough, Jr., NYPA chairman. “This power confers special advantages from being among the least cost in the country, which is the reason it is so useful for economic development.” Earlier today, the NYPA trustees approved an allocation of 1,200 kilowatts (kw) for the Moog expansion, as well as a 500-kw allocation for the Niacet Corp. of Niagara Falls, a manufacturer of specialty chemicals, which is planning to add 10 new jobs to a current work force of 82. Both allocations will be drawn from a block of Niagara industrial power, known as Replacement Power, which is reserved for Western New York businesses under New York State law, along with a second quantity of power from the project. The two blocks are sold at rates about 75 percent less than average wholesale market prices, supporting some 43,000 jobs. Moog, which got started in 1951 in Western New York and has since grown to become a worldwide company, is undertaking a two-phase project to expand the manufacturing and office space of its Space and Defense and Industrial Groups in East Aurora, to facilitate increased output. The expansion involves a full range of precision-control products and systems aerospace products for NASA’s Moon and Mars Programs, commercial satellites, flight simulators, and combat-vehicle-turret controls. “The low-cost hydropower is integral for stepping up the production output of the hardware at our East Aurora facility, and for competing with manufacturers in other parts of the country and around the world,” said Robert T. Brady, president and chief executive officer of Aerospace, Defense and Industrial, Moog. “We also do tens of millions of dollars of business with various New York suppliers of equipment, components and services, so the effect of this power allocation for the state’s economy goes well beyond our operation.” In addition to the allocation approved today, the East Aurora facility has long benefited from another allotment of hydropower, for 4,250 kw, from the second block of Niagara industrial power, known as Expansion Power. Together with Replacement Power, the two industrial power programs account for 695,000 kw, or nearly 40 percent of the Niagara project’s firm generating output. Niacet is installing new processing equipment as part of a more than $15 million expansion of its production capacity. The power allocation granted for the expansion will be in addition to 1,900 kw of Replacement and Expansion Power that the chemical plant currently receives. The Western New York Advisory Group (WNAG), consisting of NYPA, National Grid, Empire State Development Corp., the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, and the Niagara County Center for Economic Development, recommended the latest hydropower allocations. The WNAG was established in 2003 to help identify qualified companies for available industrial power from the Niagara project.
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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