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| Week of March 14, 2004 |
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ALBANY: PSC Finds State Performed Well During Blackout— New York did
not contribute to either the cause of the Aug. 14, 2003, blackout or its
extensive consequences, the state Public Service Commission concluded in an
initial report, issued on March 1. Overall, the state's power grid performed
as designed in handling the massive power surge that originated in the
Midwest and ultimately affected the northeastern states and Canada, the
report said. The PSC staff's research and analysis, including consideration
of reports by the United States-Canada Power System Outage Task Force and
the New York Independent System Operator, showed that in the hours before
the blackout, New York's electric system was operating normally, within
existing reliability policies and standards. According to the report, "Only
NYPA's Niagara and St. Lawrence hydroelectric facilities and RG&E's Russell
Station continued to operate and remain connected to the grid throughout the
blackout event." The report also noted that restoration procedures included
"the operation of the Niagara and St. Lawrence projects and the restart of
other generators, including the [NYPA] Gilboa Pump Storage Project, as the
generation sources for restarting the cross-state transmission system." The
initial report is available on the PSC's web site (
www.dps.state.ny.us ) in the What's
New section. WHITE PLAINS: NYPA Wins National Award for Innovation—The Power Authority has been named overall Product Champion for 2003 by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for the "development, building, and testing" of the Convertible Static Compensator (CSC)—the world's most advanced transmission control device—at NYPA's Marcy Substation in Central New York. The award recognizes major contributions by industry to technology transfer or commercialization of EPRI products for end users. EPRI cited Shalom Zelingher, the Power Authority's director of research and technology development; Kenneth Hasse, its senior vice president of transmission; and Ben Wong, the project manager, for having provided leadership throughout the collaboration with EPRI to develop the CSC. The CSC controls both voltage, the force sending electricity through transmission lines, and power flows, permitting immediate transfers from heavily loaded lines to those with spare capacity. EPRI, headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., was established in 1973 as a non-profit center for public-interest energy and environmental research. LONG ISLAND: Energy Upgrades Benefit Hundreds of Schools—The Power Authority had provided energy-efficiency improvements at 318 Long Island school facilities by the end of 2003, producing combined energy savings of nearly $6.7 million a year for the taxpayers of Nassau and Suffolk counties. Since the early 1990s, NYPA has completed projects in 63 school districts on Long Island, nearly half of the total for the two counties. The work has included the installation of high-efficiency lighting; heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems; motors; climate controls; and energy management systems. NYPA finances the improvements and recovers its investments through the energy savings. Work is currently under way or planned in the Brentwood School District and at the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services. In addition to reducing energy costs, NYPA energy-services projects have had positive environmental impacts. For example, upgrades of heating systems have permitted the use of cleaner-burning fuels, avoiding the release of more than 35,100 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions into Long Island's air each year. WHITE PLAINS: NYPA Web Site Available in Spanish— The Power Authority has expanded the availability of its Internet web site to include a significant portion in the Spanish language. The web site, www.nypa.gov , features an array of information about the Power Authority, its power projects, the services it provides and contact information. In addition, news releases and other communications are posted on the site. The new Spanish information is available by opening the site and then scrolling down the left side menu to NYPA en Español. Choosing that link will open the portion of the web site that has been translated from English. It mainly contains information on Power Authority activities in Southeastern New York and news releases and other information of particular interest to New York City residents. NEW YORK: Briefing Previews Summer Load-Reduction Effort— A preview of NYPA's growing, five-year-old summer Peak Load Management (PLM) Program drew more than 100 electricity-customer representatives to the City University of New York's Baruch College Newman Conference Center on Feb. 26. PLM participants commit to reducing their non-essential energy use, at NYPA's request, on the summer's hottest days. In return, they earn cash incentives ranging from one-thousand to several-hundred-thousand dollars, based on their energy savings. Participating customer facilities grew by about 25 percent to 75 in 2003, and the program exceeded NYPA's projections of energy savings by 6 percent. Customers typically achieve the savings by shutting off lights and elevators or escalators, adjusting air-conditioning settings or operating their own on-site generators. The briefing gave customers an opportunity to share experiences and learn about other load reduction programs in which NYPA participates. The 2004 PLM program will run on weekdays from June 1 through Sept. 30. NANUET: NYPA Honors Black Achiever for Media Initiative— The Power Authority has recognized Lorna Constable of Nanuet as its 2003 Black Achiever in Industry for her contribution in modernizing how information is gathered and distributed by NYPA's Public and Governmental Affairs Department. She will be among those honored at the Harlem YMCA's 34th annual Salute to Black Achievers dinner on March 25 in New York City. Constable, an associate information specialist, led the effort to introduce web-based technology to electronically manage lists of media contacts, distribute press releases, file news articles and present NYPA employees, via their desktops, with a daily summary of industry-related information. She was also honored at Gov. George Pataki's Tribute to African-American Leaders in State Service, held in Albany on Feb. 3. In the Community: About 65 people turned out for a presentation on Russia in Winter as part of the Sunday Travelogue Series at the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project's visitors center, North Blenheim, March 7….NYPA received a special recognition award for its contributions to the community at the United Way of Niagara County's annual luncheon, Niagara Falls, March 5….The Power Authority gave Basics of Electricity presentations to the Peru Intermediate School, March 10; St. Marguerite D'Youville Academy, Ogdensburg, March 2; and the West Side School, Gouverneur, and the George Southard Elementary School, Rockport, both on Feb. 27….Debra White, manager of NYPA's supplier diversity program, was among the speakers at the fifth annual Women's History Month Luncheon and Business Development Day, organized by the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Westchester and Rockland Counties, Rye Brook, March 1….An exhibit on the Blenheim-Gilboa project's visitors center was on display at the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce Family Expo, Crossgates Mall, Feb. 28….Steve Ramsey, senior community relations representative, and Tracy Dufresne, human resources manager, discussed careers in the utility industry at the Middleburgh Central School's Career Day, Feb. 27….John Markowitz, infrastructure engineer, spoke about engineering careers at the Lower Hudson Valley Engineering Expo, sponsored by the Rockland County Chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers, Blauvelt, Feb. 22. |