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Week of March 28, 2004
About NYPA Notes

NYPA Notes provides periodic updates on the New York Power Authority's statewide activities to stimulate economic growth, promote energy conservation and develop new, environmentally friendly energy technologies.

It also reports on the Authority's efforts to facilitate solutions to New York's energy problems and on its potential benefits to the state as the electricity industry shifts from regulation to competition.

Please feel free to reprint any of the information in NYPA Notes. We hope you find the newsletter informative and useful and would welcome your comments and inquiries (nancy.ames@nypa.gov).

NYPA Calendar

March 30: The Power Authority’s trustees will meet in NYPA's Albany office, 30 S. Pearl St., 11 a.m.

April 4: The Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project's visitors center will present An Easter Adventure, North Blenheim, noon - 3 p.m. Children 8 years old and under will have an opportunity to have their pictures taken with the Easter Bunny.

April 5: The Power Authority will present the Basics of Electricity to fourth graders at the Windham-Ashland-Jewitt Central School.

April 7: The Power Authority will participate in a Business Expo and Job Fair at the State University of New York at Cobleskill, 3 - 6 p.m.

April 10: The Easter Bunny will hop to the Niagara Power Project's visitors center for an Easter Egg-stravaganza, featuring storytelling and an Easter Egg scavenger hunt, Lewiston 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
 
ROCHESTER: NYPA Launches Major Energy Upgrade Projects— Work began in March on a wide-ranging $3.2 million NYPA energy-efficiency project at municipal facilities here that will produce energy- and maintenance-cost savings of $265,000 a year for taxpayers of New York State's third largest city. In the Power Authority's first major work in the city, Rochester's City Hall, a vehicle maintenance facility, a city-operated daycare and community center, a truck garage and two fire stations will undergo energy upgrades. The work, scheduled for completion by year's end, will result in improved lighting, indoor air quality and climate control and reduce maintenance requirements. NYPA will replace energy management systems, upgrade motors and install variable-speed drives and occupancy sensors at City Hall and the maintenance and garage facilities. More than 200 aging heat pumps are also scheduled for replacement at City Hall. In other work, the Power Authority will provide six rooftop heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units at the North Street Recreation Center, and the fire stations will obtain high-efficiency lighting. As at other NYPA energy services projects, the Authority will recover its costs through the city's savings.

WESTERN NEW YORK: NYPA Helps Vehicle Fleets Go Electric— The Power Authority has donated more than two dozen neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) to public agencies and non-profit organizations in Western New York as part of its efforts to advance clean transportation alternatives throughout the state. The small low-speed, zero-emission vehicles—designed to be driven on private property and on public roads with speed limits of up to 35 miles per hour—are being used for a variety of purposes, including security patrols, personnel transport and equipment deliveries. Recipients of Ford TH!NK Neighbor NEVs include the Village of Youngstown; the Town of Niagara; the Village of Lewiston Police Department; and Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Kaleida Health, both in Buffalo. The State University of New York at Buffalo and Buffalo State College received GEMs (Global Electric Motorcars), built by DaimlerChrysler. The Power Authority has helped to place some 330 low-speed NEVs into service around New York State in addition to sponsoring an array of other clean transportation initiatives.

MASSENA: Advisory Council Spurs Habitat Improvements— A Technical Advisory Council has taken up its assigned task of aiding in the design, development and monitoring of environmental improvement and mitigation measures to be undertaken by NYPA as part of its new license for the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project. NYPA will initially carry out 11 Habitat Improvement Projects at a cost of $8.4 million, and the council will select similar projects for funding in the future. In approving the new 50-year license for the St. Lawrence-FDR project last October, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission called for the council's creation. The advisory group held its first meetings in February and March to adopt bylaws and to plan for this year's work, which includes numerous studies and construction of nesting platforms for osprey. Members of the advisory council represent state and federal resource agencies as well as local stakeholders.

BRONX: Electric Postal Trucks to Deliver the Mail—
Mail deliveries this summer will be cleaner and quieter in several Bronx communities thanks to eight new electric postal trucks purchased by the Power Authority for U.S. Postal Service routes in the borough’s Mott Haven and Hunts Point neighborhoods. The emissions-free trucks, anticipated to be in service by early summer, will replace diesel delivery trucks. They are part of a $23 million Power Authority program to offset emissions in New York City where NYPA installed small, clean power plants in 2001 to meet an urgent need for power. The electric delivery trucks are ideal for postal routes, which typically involve short-distance travel and extended idling. NYPA worked with the Postal Service to introduce electric delivery trucks in 2001 at the Ansonia Station Post Office in Manhattan. Delivery of the eight new trucks, with drive systems manufactured by Massachusetts-based Solectria Corp., will bring to 30 the number of electric Postal Service trucks the Power Authority has helped to supply in New York City.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: NYPA Earns APPA Safety Award—
The Power Authority placed second among 23 electric utilities in its category in the American Public Power Association (APPA) annual competition to identify utilities with the safest operating practices. NYPA and the other top finishers received awards at the APPA's annual Engineering & Operations Technical Conference, in San Antonio, Texas, on March 9. Entrants are judged on the basis of the number of their work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of their worker-hours during 2003. For the previous seven years, NYPA earned APPA's highest national award for safety in its category, which included some of the largest publicly owned utilities. In 2003, the largest two categories were combined, doubling the number of entrants.

WHITE PLAINS.: NYPA President Elected LPPC Vice Chair— NYPA President and Chief Executive Officer Eugene Zeltmann has been elected vice chairman of the Large Public Power Council (LPPC), representing 24 of the nation's largest public systems. The LPPC works to advance consumer-oriented positions on national energy issues. Zeltmann is also vice chairman of EPRI (the Electric Power Research Institute) and co-chairman of the Electric Drive Transportation Association.

In the Community: The Power Authority participated in the Niagara County Science Fair for middle school students at the Stella Niagara Education Park, Lewiston, March 27….A Red Cross blood drive was held at the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project's visitors center, North Blenheim, March 24….The Power Authority gave a Basics of Electricity presentation at the Philip Schuyler School, Albany, March 23….Marilyn Brown, account executive, spoke to the Port Chester Rotary Club on The Power Authority: Working for Westchester, March 23….NYPA participated in the annual Adventures in Science Day at St. Mark's School, Buffalo, March 19….The Power Authority took part in the Invent-a-thon Convention 2004 at the Starpoint Middle School, Lockport, March 19….Ed Birdie, public and governmental affairs representative, spoke to the New Hyde Park Civilian Patrol, March 18, and to the Glen Cove Rotary Club, March 16, on The Power Authority and Long Island Issues….Bill Paterson, senior tour guide, was the Grand Marshal at the Niagara Falls St. Patrick's Day parade, March 17….Bob Hadler, community relations regional manager, gave a presentation to the Massena Monday Luncheon Club on the new visitors center planned for the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project, March 15….Sobeida Cruz, director, public and governmental affairs, spoke to the Ramapo Valley Rotary on the Power Authority's initiatives in the lower Hudson Valley, Sloatsburg, March 12.