NEWS
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Low-Cost Hydropower To Spur Construction Of
Bleach Production Plant In Mohawk Valley And Creation Of 54 New Jobs Contact: January 27, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ALBANY—New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Kessel today announced that an allocation of low-cost hydropower to the Village of Frankfort will support the plans of a Canadian company—Tibro Water Technologies—to build a bleach production plant in Herkimer County, creating 54 new jobs over the next three years. “The Power Authority is delighted to partner with the Village of Frankfort in spurring economic development in connection with the multimillion dollar bleach production facility planned by Tibro Water Technologies,” Kessel said. “We’re working diligently under Governor Paterson to harness our available low-cost hydropower, some of the least cost electricity in the country, to revive the state’s economy. The allocation approved today by our Board of Trustees reflects those efforts.” The NYPA Trustees authorized an allocation of 1,000 kilowatts (kw) to help make possible the investment of $6.2 million by Tibro in the new Frankfort business. The allotment of power was made under the Power Authority’s Municipal and Rural Cooperative Economic Development Program, which is intended for the 51 communities in the state with municipal electric systems and rural cooperatives. The 47 municipal and four cooperative systems receive low-cost hydropower from the Power Authority’s Niagara Power Project near Niagara Falls. Tibro is planning to build a 60,000-square-foot facility at the 31-acre site of the former Union Tools facility on Main Street in Frankfort. It is expected that the new Tibro facility could be operational as soon as this winter. “Make no mistake about the importance of the additional hydropower that Frankfort will receive on behalf of Tibro. This was a deciding factor in our ability to attract the company,” said Village Mayor Frank Moracco. “I want to thank Governor Paterson, the Power Authority Board of Trustees and Authority President Richie Kessel for recognizing the importance of this endeavor. The new allocation of low-cost Niagara power was crucial. Tibro had considered locations in Canada and Pennsylvania before deciding on Frankfort, which is near the company’s customers and their distribution centers. The new facility will produce bleach directly from salt—an inert and safe raw material—instead of chlorine gas, the conventional method. The Municipal and Rural Cooperative Economic Development Program, which makes available 54,000 kw of hydropower, is part of a larger block of nearly 765,000 kw that the munis and coops receive from the Niagara project for their communities. The Power Authority administers nine lower-cost power allocation programs for economic development in the state, including the program benefiting the munis and coops. The various programs are directly linked to more than 400,000 jobs at nearly 800 businesses and non-profit organizations throughout 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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