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| Week of August 10, 2003 |
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ALBANY: NYPA, DaimlerChrysler Put EVs on SUNY Campuses– Power
Authority President and CEO Eugene Zeltmann joined New York State University
Chancellor Robert King at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany
on July 29 to introduce a NYPA-DaimlerChrysler donation program placing 300
zero-emission GEM neighborhood electric vehicles with state and local
government agencies and non-profit organizations. Global Electric Motorcars
(GEM), a DaimlerChrysler subsidiary, established the program in cooperation
with NYPA to promote the use of electric vehicles to improve air quality and
reduce noise pollution. SUNY is the program's single largest recipient, with
130 electric cars designated for use at 26 campuses, from Alfred in the
Southern Tier to Plattsburgh in the North Country and Stony Brook on Long
Island. SUNY branches at Buffalo and Albany will receive the most vehicles,
10 each. The GEM, smaller than a "normal" auto- mobile, is a five-horsepower two- or four-passenger vehicle with a top speed of about 25 miles per hour and street-legal on roads with speed limits of 35 miles per hour. LISBON: New Bath House Serves as Model of Energy Efficiency— What may be the state's most energy-efficient bath house—the first of many NYPA upgrades to North Country parks and recreational areas under the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project relicensing settlement agreement—was officially opened at ceremonies at the Lisbon Town Beach on July 30. Sen. Jim Wright attended the festivities along with Lisbon Town Supervisor Roger Watters; Randy Crissman, the Power Authority regional manager; and other local and NYPA officials. The $360,000 bath house includes rooftop solar photovoltaic panels to heat water, low-flow toilets and shower heads, automatic shut-off faucets and high-efficiency indoor and exterior lighting. Wright obtained a $150,000 state Petroleum Overcharge Restitution fund grant for the project. The Power Authority negotiated the relicensing agreement with area towns and school districts and St. Lawrence County as part of its efforts to renew its federal license for the St. Lawrence-FDR project. LEWISTON: Jazz Tradition Continues With Summer Festival—The streets of Lewiston will come alive with the sounds of live jazz over the weekend of Aug. 22-24 as the Power Authority teams up with community leaders and businesses to present the second annual Historic Lewiston Jazz Festival. This year's theme, A Great American Tradition Continues, reflects the success of last year's inaugural event, in which some 10,000 festival-goers descended on downtown Lewiston to hear live jazz at assorted venues and generate about $250,000 in business for local restaurants and merchants. The 2003 festival will feature a free Saturday evening concert at Artpark by The Rob McConnell Tentet, followed by a fireworks display by Telstar. The Power Authority is the main sponsor of the event. For more information, check the festival's web site at www.lewistonjazz.com. GILBOA: Blenheim-Gilboa Project Marks 30 Years of Service— The Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project marked its 30th anniversary in July as New York State's largest energy-storage system, generating clean, reliable electricity at times of peak demand and in emergencies. Located in the northern Catskills, about 40 miles southwest of Albany, the Blenheim-Gilboa project was dedicated on July 31, 1973, after producing its first power on July 5. Operating like a giant storage battery, the project generates up to 1,040,000 kilowatts (kw) of electricity by recycling water between two reservoirs. It uses the most economical power available from other sources to pump water into a mountaintop reservoir when demand is low and energy costs less. During periods of peak power demand, the water is released through giant conduits to Blenheim-Gilboa’s four electricity-producing turbine-generators and then is discharged into the project's lower reservoir. Award-winning conservation, cultural and recreational facilities developed by the Power Authority as part of the project include Lansing Manor Museum, in a historic pre-Civil War home; the 650-acre Mine Kill State Park; and the project's visitors center, housed in a 19th-century dairy barn. BUFFALO: NYPA Plays Lead Support Role at Hydro Conference— The year's largest international gathering of hydropower professionals began on July 28 with an in-depth tour of NYPA's Niagara Power Project in Lewiston and concluded with a July 31 tour and reception for 600 attendees and guests at the project's Power Vista visitors center. NYPA helped organize the conference, described as "the hydro industry's premier technical forum" by Hydro Review magazine, at the Buffalo Convention Center. Power Authority Chairman Louis Ciminelli gave welcoming remarks, and NYPA staff members presented technical papers on aspects of the Niagara project's operation and the innovative Alternative Licensing Process being employed by NYPA to obtain new federal licenses for the Niagara project and the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project in Massena. BROOKLYN: Williamsburg School Receives NYPA Computers— The Power Authority delivered 10 surplus computers to Intermediate School 84 here on July 17, raising the number of Power Authority machines donated to public schools statewide to 120. Under NYPA's program, computers in good condition are refurbished and made available to schools as determined by State Education Department and Office of General Services guidelines. The Power Authority previously donated computers to schools in the Bronx, Queens, Niagara Falls and Utica. All the machines are thoroughly cleaned, tested, repaired, if necessary, and upgraded with a minimum of 64 megabytes of memory and a new operating system. In the Community: NYPA is sponsoring the Little Falls Canal Celebration, which recognizes the varied ethnic groups that contributed to the development of the area and the importance of the canal to its economic growth, Aug. 4-10….Niagara Power Project staff members made a Basics of Electricity presentation to children at the Youngstown Summer Recreation Program, Aug. 4….NYPA presented informational exhibits at the Fleet Waterfest in Buffalo and the Hawk Creek Wildlife & Renaissance Festival, East Aurora, both Aug. 2-3….A capacity crowd at the 1,025-seat Paramount Theater in Peekskill enjoyed a free NYPA-sponsored Grass Roots concert, kicking off Peekskill Celebration 2003, Aug. 1-3. GEM (Global Electric Motorcars) electric-drive vehicles presented to Peekskill as part of a NYPA-DaimlerChrysler donation program helped officials coordinate the weekend's activities….A Power Authority electric vehicle was on display at the Minekill State Park Summer Recreation Program, North Blenheim, July 31….Junior and senior high school science, math and technology teachers heard a presentation on the Power Authority's electric transportation program and had an opportunity to test drive a Toyota RAV4 electric vehicle at the Energy Education Institute, at the Putnam/Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services' Yorktown Heights campus, July 17. The teachers also inspected solar panels atop the Authority's White Plains office building on July 11. The institute, sponsored by Entergy Corporation, was intended to give teachers a better understanding of current energy issues. |