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| Week of Oct. 24, 2004 |
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NORTH COUNTRY: Fiber-Optic System Creates Global Link—Businesses and
institutions in the North Country crossed the "digital divide" in October,
gaining greater access to the world marketplace through the completion and
start-up of a 450-mile fiber-optic telecommunication cable funded in part by
the Power Authority. The Regional Fiber Optic System, created by the
Development Authority of the North Country, will allow businesses to use
more-efficient, lower-cost, state-of-the-art technology to transmit voice,
data and video information through long-distance and Internet access. NYPA
contributed $2.5 million toward the project's $18.65 million cost as part of
Gov. George Pataki's efforts to attract new business to the region, create
jobs and help existing businesses compete. The fiber-optic system allows
carriers of telecommunication services, and telecom-intensive businesses, to
locate in the North Country without bearing the network's high construction
costs. The Power Authority's contribution was part of $6.25 million in
grants from New York State. When the funding was announced in 2002, NYPA
Chairman Louis Ciminelli said, "This high-speed fiber-optic
telecommunication network will join the low-cost power provided by NYPA's
St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project among the North Country's impressive array of
economic development assets." BROCKPORT: SUNY College Energy Upgrades Near Completion— The Power Authority is in the final stages of a comprehensive energy-efficiency program at the State University of New York College at Brockport that will save the school nearly $270,000 a year on its energy bills. The $3.3 million program involves nearly every building on campus. NYPA connected the boiler and chiller systems in several buildings, improving the efficiency of heating and air conditioning and extending the life of equipment. The Power Authority also combined energy management for several buildings under one computer system for added efficiency. In addition, it installed occupancy sensors to turn lights off automatically when rooms are vacant, retrofitted exit signs with low-energy lights and placed timers on tennis court lighting. During the work, which began in April, the failure of cooling- and heating-system components unrelated to the project prompted NYPA to replace them as well. The Power Authority financed the energy-efficiency program and will recover its cost through the energy savings. NYPA plans additional energy-efficiency work at the Brockport campus for 2006. SPRINGVILLE: Village Receives NYPA Hybrid-Electric Car—The Village of Springville in October became the latest municipality to obtain a hybrid-electric Toyota Prius through the Power Authority's Municipal Electric-Drive Vehicle Program. The car, which runs partly on a battery that is recharged while the vehicle is running, demonstrates the reductions in air pollution and gasoline use made possible through hybrid-electric vehicles. NYPA has set aside $1.2 million to help the state's municipal and rural cooperative electric systems purchase hybrid-electric and all-electric vehicles for their fleets. NYPA, which is partnering with the Municipal Electric Utilities Association (MEUA) in the municipal portion of the program, will recover its costs through the systems' electricity bills. Four other municipalities— Boonville, Fairport, Rouses Point and Spencerport—also have received vehicles under the program, as has the MEUA itself. Overall, NYPA has placed about 700 electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in service around the state. NORTH BLENHEIM: Wildlife Habitat Work Wins Plaudits—The national Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) has recertified for another two years a wildlife management program on the grounds of NYPA's Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project here, saying the efforts of the project's employees "have continued to be outstanding." The Power Authority and the State University of New York College at Cobleskill jointly administer the program. In announcing the award, the WHC said the council's staff members "were particularly impressed with the planning and development of the [project's] long-term bluebird nest-box monitoring program." The Power Authority has been committed to the bluebird nesting program since the late 1980s. NYPA and other winners of WHC awards will be honored during the organization's annual Symposium and Awards Banquet, on Nov. 16 in Baltimore. WESTCHESTER COUNTY: Surplus Computers Benefit Students— The Power Authority has donated 40 surplus computers to two Westchester County facilities as part of its ongoing distribution of such equipment to schools and other institutions providing children's services. Port Chester High School received 20 NYPA computers in September for use in its computer lab. In October, 20 more computers were slated for delivery to the White Plains Youth Bureau for an after-school program. Each of the gently used, late-model desktop units was cleaned and furnished with 64 megabytes of memory. The Power Authority has donated more than 250 computers to facilities statewide since it began the program two years ago. HERE AND THERE: Halloween Activities Set at Visitors Centers— The fine art of pumpkin painting, along with other Halloween activities, will be featured at two NYPA visitors centers on Saturday, Oct. 30. At the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project's visitors center in North Blenheim, participants are asked to wear a costume and bring a pumpkin that they've decorated to the annual Sc'ary Halloween celebration. Judging for best entries will begin at 12:30 p.m. Refreshments and children's entertainment also will be available at the admission-free event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. NYPA's Niagara Power Project, located in Lewiston, will stage another of its Sensational Saturday events at the Power Vista on the same date, with hands-on demonstrations of pumpkin painting, face painting and mask making, and interactive storytelling. All materials will be provided to participants at the admission-free event, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In the Community: The Power Authority's White Plains office played host to the kick-off luncheon for state agencies in Westchester and Putnam counties participating in the State Employees Federated Appeal, an annual charity drive, Oct. 19….NYPA President Eugene Zeltmann presented a $10,000 check to officials of Bassett Hospital of Schoharie County in Cobleskill to support establishment of a cardiac substation at the hospital, Oct. 18. The new substation and similar Bassett facilities in Herkimer and Oneonta offer cardiac surgery, angioplasty and other procedures that were formerly unavailable in the hospital's service area….The Niagara Power Project's visitors center participated in the third annual Doors Open Niagara program, in which visitors could experience more than 100 heritage sites in the Niagara region, Lewiston, Oct. 16-17. The center's attractions include a seven-foot-high mural by Thomas Hart Benton depicting Father Louis Hennepin's visit to Niagara Falls during the 17th century.…Almost 1,500 people attended the fifth annual Schoharie County Harvest Festival at the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project visitors center, North Blenheim, Oct. 16….Paul Pasquarello, photography supervisor at the Niagara project, gave a multimedia 3-D Electric City slide show to the Steuben Rural Electric Cooperative, a NYPA customer, Oct. 9. The show features Buffalo's 1901 Pan Am Exposition and then-newly discovered uses of electricity….Westchester County municipal officials toured the Power Authority's White Plains office building and viewed NYPA's award-winning energy-efficiency improvements there, Oct.2. |