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| Week of Jan. 18, 2004 |
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NIAGARA FALLS: NYPA Power to Protect Jobs at Air Force Base– Gov.
George Pataki has announced that low-cost Power Authority electricity will
help cut costs at the Niagara Falls Air Force Base and protect its 3,000
jobs from potential cutbacks in the next round of base closures, scheduled
for 2005. The governor's Task Force on Military Bases identified power costs
at the base as a priority action item among steps being taken to meet the
challenges of the upcoming Base Realignment and Closure process. NYPA, on
Dec. 17, approved the sale of 2,300 kilowatts of economical electricity to
the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) for use at the base.
Niagara County's second largest employer, the base is home to the 914th
Airlift Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve and the 107th Air Refueling Wing
of the New York Air National Guard. The base is a tenant at the NFTA-owned
Niagara Falls International Airport. NYPA already provides electricity to
the NFTA for its light rail system and other purposes. WHITE PLAINS: NYPA Electric Vehicles Log 3.3 Million Miles– The total miles traveled by NYPA electric vehicles over the past decade would circle the globe 132 times. The 700-plus electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in NYPA's Electric Transportation program have logged more than 3.3 million miles since 1994, saving vast quantities of gasoline and diesel fuel and helping to improve air quality. More than 70 percent of the vehicles are currently in use, for purposes ranging from mail delivery, materials handling, security patrols and parking enforcement to pupil transportation and station-car and transit service. In cooperation with Daimler Chrysler, NYPA donated 330 low-speed GEM electric vehicles in 2003 to state and local government agencies, parks, colleges and non-profit organizations. Among other new initiatives last year, NYPA offered to help its municipal and rural cooperative electric system customers finance the purchase of hybrid-electric and selected off-road vehicles for use in their fleets. The vehicles will also serve as educational tools to demonstrate various electric-drive technologies that are commercially available. BUFFALO: Energy-Saving Projects Near Completion at Schools— The fourth in a $16 million multiyear series of NYPA-administered energy-efficiency projects at Buffalo public schools is expected to be finished by early 2004, with annual energy-cost savings estimated at more than $1 million from all four phases. The improvements have included high-efficiency boilers and lighting fixtures and energy-saving climate-control equipment. The latest phase, begun in the summer of 2002, will provide 24 city schools with $8.9 million in renovations, including new energy management systems for each facility. Almost $1 million from New York State's share of the federal Petroleum Overcharge Restitution Fund and a quarter-million-dollar rebate from the state's Energy Research and Development Authority are supporting the Buffalo work, which began in 1994. In a separate initiative, under the Clean Air for Schools Program, the Power Authority helped to improve the air quality at seven Buffalo schools by replacing their old, polluting coal furnaces with modern gas- or oil-fueled units. TUPPER LAKE: Generators to Help Prevent Rolling Blackouts— State Sen. Betty Little and NYPA President and CEO Eugene Zeltmann on Jan. 5 announced the donation of two generators to the Village of Tupper Lake to help prevent rolling blackouts during the peak winter season. The village, deep in the Adirondacks, operates its own electric system, which purchases power from NYPA and relies on a single 46-kilovolt Niagara Mohawk transmission line to deliver its electricity. Without enough capacity on the line to reliably meet the area's growing needs, rolling, or scheduled, blackouts became unavoidable. The two 1,250-kilowatt generators can supply up to 10 percent of the village's peak power demand—as the need arises. Senator Little worked with Gov. George Pataki's office and NYPA to secure $85,000 for the new units from New York's share of the Petroleum Overcharge Restitution Fund. NYPA is working with the senator, Tupper Lake and Niagara Mohawk officials to find a long-term solution to the village's electricity problems. MASSENA: New Boundary Approved for St. Lawrence Project— The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved a new project boundary for the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project, allowing NYPA to remove more than 3,000 acres from within the facility's boundary along the St. Lawrence River. The action, announced Dec. 23, followed FERC's Oct. 22 approval of a new 50-year license for the Power Authority to continue operating the massive hydroelectric project, which began producing power in 1958 as NYPA's first generating facility. Approximately 600 acres of property will be conveyed to local communities and adjoining landowners; an additional 2,760 acres will be transferred to other governmental entities, including the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Acreage removed from within the project boundary is located in the towns of Lisbon, Louisville, Massena and Waddington. In a move unrelated to the relicensing, NYPA began to convey some 895 acres of surplus project land to North Country communities in 2001. MONROE: NYPA Solar Panels to Supply Power to Schools— Youngsters in the Monroe-Woodbury School District will learn firsthand about technologies providing clean, quiet electricity from the sun, with the help of $75,000 from New York's share of the Petroleum Overcharge Restitution Fund. State Sen. William Larkin has announced that the Power Authority will install the rooftop photovoltaic array, expected to produce about 6 kilowatts of electricity. School officials will conduct a technical review to determine on which buildings within the district the solar panels will be placed. MASSENA: NYPA Announces Donation to Massena Hospital— In one of his last official acts as NYPA's regional manager for Northern New York, Randy Crissman announced on Dec. 23 that the Power Authority will donate $50,000 to Massena Memorial Hospital's building campaign. Crissman, who became NYPA's regional manager for Western New York, effective Jan. 5, served as a member of the Massena Memorial Hospital Foundation after taking on the job of regional manager at the Authority's St. Lawrence-FDR project in July 2001. The hospital's $10.5 million building fund drive will support about 29,000 square feet of new construction and extensive renovations to existing facilities. In his new assignment, Crissman is based at NYPA's Niagara Power Project in Lewiston. In the Community: Tour guides from the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project’s visitors center gave a Basics of Electricity presentation to students at P.S. 18, Albany, Jan. 8….The Power Authority has donated 200 surplus computers to the Massena Central, Madrid-Waddington and Lisbon Central school districts. NYPA completely refurbished the computers and provided each of them with a new operating system.…The Niagara Power Project's visitors center, Lewiston, has reopened after being closed since Dec. 22 because of heightened security. Call 716-286-6661 or 1-866-NYPA FUN for directions and information or to schedule an educational program. |