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Week of Jan. 16, 2005
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

Jan. 20: Steve Ramsey, community relations representative, will speak to the Greater Stamford Area Chamber of Commerce about the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project and the community events at its visitors center, National Bank of Stamford, 8 a.m.

Jan: 25: The state Economic Development Power Allocation Board will meet via teleconference in the Power Authority's White Plains office, 123 Main St., 10 a.m. A NYPA trustees meeting will follow.
 
WHITE PLAINS: Energy Savings Reach $90 Million Annually—Energy-efficiency projects implemented by the Power Authority at state and local government facilities are saving about $90 million a year in energy costs and avoiding the release of nearly 660,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually. NYPA has completed energy-saving projects at more than 2,200 locations statewide, including upgrades of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, and installation of high-efficiency lighting, energy-saving windows and energy management systems. For example, projects at 84 State University of New York facilities produce annual energy-cost savings of $10 million, and work at more than 1,100 public schools throughout the state saves in excess of $30 million a year. Overall, the energy saved through NYPA's efforts is equivalent to the output of a medium-sized power plant. The Authority has authorized $1.33 billion for energy conservation projects to date.

ALBANY: NYPA Helps Advance Hydrogen-Fuel Research—
The Power Authority is participating in two projects announced by Gov. George Pataki to demonstrate the effectiveness of hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles. The projects will be managed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in cooperation with NYPA, with each entity contributing $750,000. One project will involve the conversion of several light-duty vehicles owned by the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to run on hydrogen fuel. The hydrogen will be produced by Praxair, Inc., a customer of NYPA's low-cost hydropower, in Tonawanda. The other project will focus on the cost, reliability and public acceptance of hydrogen refueling stations to be built in the Albany area for two Honda FCX hydrogen-cell vehicles leased by New York State. NYPA and NYSERDA are also funding educational outreach and strategic planning to help establish the state's 20-year Hydrogen Roadmap, aimed at charting a course to New York's hydrogen future.

BRONX: New Boilers to Cut Hospital's Energy Costs—
Power Authority crews in March are scheduled to complete replacement of half-century-old boilers and a deteriorating underground steam-distribution system at Jacobi Medical Center, with annual energy savings projected at $725,000 for the Bronx's largest public hospital. Three new gas-fired boilers installed by NYPA will serve the 750-bed hospital, its ambulatory center, staff residences, and medical and dental clinics, with increased efficiency and reliability and reduced emissions. New gas-fired and electric hot-water heaters will allow shutting of boilers during non-heating seasons, further reducing energy costs and emissions. NYPA will recoup its investment by sharing in Jacobi's energy savings.

ALBANY: NYPA Supports Martin Luther King Observances— A NYPA-produced video was to be part of Martin Luther King Jr. memorial observances at Empire State Plaza here on Jan. 17. The video, offering a glimpse of the brutality encountered by Selma-to-Montgomery, Ala., marchers in 1965, was set to be included in a morning of historical readings and dramatic, musical and dance presentations, a noon march and wreath-laying ceremonies. Nationally known speakers were expected to participate. The Power Authority also sponsored the Jan. 13 kickoff of New York City's memorial observance honoring Dr. King, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. In addition, NYPA will conduct employee book-donation promotions through February to support a new volunteer literacy initiative in Dr. King's memory. Books donated by staff members at the Power Authority's White Plains office and Niagara Power Project will be distributed to children in New York City and Western New York.

HOLTSVILLE: Flynn Plant Turbine Marks Milestone—
The Siemens gas turbine powering NYPA's Richard M. Flynn Power Plant here on Jan. 6 marked 100,000 hours of operation, becoming the first unit of its kind to reach that milestone. There are 73 similar Siemens gas turbines worldwide. Over more than 10 years of use, the gas turbine, produced by Siemens Westinghouse Power Generation, has run almost non-stop, except for maintenance and inspections. NYPA's efforts to monitor the equipment and its in-use conditions have helped to sustain longer operating periods. The Flynn plant, a combined-cycle generating facility, produces about 1.1 million megawatt-hours of electricity a year for Long Island consumers. Reusing heat normally lost in combustion, combined-cycle technology enables the plant to produce about 50 per cent more electricity from its fuel than a single-cycle power system could.

HERE AND THERE: Computer Donations Aid Local Groups— Surplus computer equipment from Power Authority facilities is helping promote tourism in Harlem, providing moral support for soldiers in Iraq and educating young people in White Plains. Gently used late-model desktop units no longer needed by NYPA are made available on a limited basis to public facilities, with special emphasis on educational programs and community-service projects. This winter, NYPA delivered five computers to the West Harlem Art Fund, an arts and preservation group, which will use the equipment to develop a cultural tourism initiative, including a new hybrid-electric shuttle-bus loop, in Harlem. Another recent delivery provided five NYPA computers to a contingent of the New York State Army National Guard's 204th Engineer Battalion, based at the Riverhead Armory. When they're not being used for administrative purposes, the computers will be made available for family members to e-mail the battalion's approximately 60 men and women dispatched to Iraq last spring. This month, the White Plains Youth Bureau received 20 NYPA computers for an after-school program for local youngsters.

NORTH BLENHEIM: B-G Visitors Center Draws Crowds—
The visitors center at the Power Authority's Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project continues to be a major tourist attraction in Schoharie County, drawing over 40,000 people in 2004. Housed in a fully restored 19th-century dairy barn, the center is filled with interactive exhibits on electricity generation and the environment. It is open daily except Christmas and New Year's Day. The project's visitors center is part of an admission-free complex that includes historic Lansing Manor, one of the area's most fashionable homes before the Civil War. Now fully restored and operated as a museum, Lansing Manor is open from May through October. Many people also visit the site for events such as an annual wildlife festival, car shows and seasonal activities.

In the Community: The Niagara Power Project's visitors center staff conducted a Basics of Electricity presentation for students at the ABC Nursery School, Ransomville, Jan.11….Sobeida Cruz, director of public affairs, lower Hudson Valley, spoke to the Middletown Rotary Club on the Power Authority's initiatives in the region, Jan. 10.