NEW YORK: Electricity Suppliers Selected for Public Customers— NYPA trustees on Feb. 23 approved the selection of electricity suppliers for serving the Power Authority’s governmental customers in New York City and the thousands of essential facilities they operate. The action stemmed from an ongoing joint planning process for the future energy needs of the governmental customers, including the City of New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the New York City Housing Authority. The customers participated in the competitive review of more than 30 bids submitted in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by NYPA last June for energy supplies, beginning as early as Feb. 1, 2008. The companies selected for meeting a portion of the RFP requirements are Entergy, Morgan Stanley Capital Group and Zilkha Renewable Energy. The agreements with the companies are being finalized. The Power Authority continues to work closely with its New York City governmental customers in reviewing alternatives for meeting a requirement for in-city capacity, which can be satisfied either by power generation within New York City or facilities connected through dedicated transmission lines from outside its borders.

COBLESKILL: NYPA Funds Fisheries Program at State College— The Power Authority has contributed $20,000 to the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cobleskill to help establish a walleye fish-stocking program for fisheries in Schoharie County, including the upper and lower reservoirs at NYPA’s Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project. The funds will be used to create two fish ponds and to train students in SUNY Cobleskill’s fisheries program. As part of a Life Extension and Modernization (LEM) program scheduled to begin at Blenheim-Gilboa in 2006, water levels in the upper reservoir will be reduced for a short period during four consecutive autumns to permit upgrades to equipment, creating a need for fish restocking. While the reservoirs previously were stocked with trout, NYPA President Eugene Zeltmann said the Schoharie County Conservation Association asked that the emphasis be shifted to walleye, an increasingly popular game fish. “The Power Authority is committed to maintaining a quality recreational fishery in both the upper and lower reservoirs at the power project,” Zeltmann said.

NEW ROCHELLE: Work Begins on Traffic Signal Upgrades—NYPA is upgrading more than 2,700 traffic signals throughout downtown with brighter, longer-lived and far more energy-efficient fixtures, drawing 90 percent less energy than the current signals. Red, yellow, green and white precision-lensed light-emitting diode (LED) modules will replace existing incandescent bulbs, promising lower maintenance costs thanks to longer operating lives. NYPA is managing and financing the project, expected to be complete by June. The Power Authority initiated a similar LED project for the city of Peekskill earlier this month, following larger projects conducted for New York City Transit and in the Borough of Queens. In the past decade, NYPA has invested close to $2 million in energy-efficiency improvements at nine New Rochelle facilities, saving more than $1.5 million annually.

STATEN ISLAND: NYPA to Sponsor SI CONFERENCE 2005—The Staten Island Economic Development Corporation has announced its plans for SI CONFERENCE 2005, the borough’s only all-day business networking event, with the Power Authority as this year’s presenting sponsor. The April 26 conference will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn. Guest speakers are scheduled to include Lt. Gov. Mary Donohue, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Borough President James Molinaro and Randy Levine, president of the New York Yankees. NYPA President Eugene Zeltmann, also scheduled as a speaker, called the seventh annual conference “a unique opportunity to recognize recent accomplishments and help set the course for future economic growth on Staten Island and throughout New York City.”

UTICA: Three Public Facilities Receive Surplus NYPA Computers—The Power Authority has delivered 20 surplus computers to three public facilities in Central New York. The Utica Children’s Museum and the Utica Zoo each received five gently used computers, which will be available to students for research as part of their visits to these institutions. The Otto Shortell Middle School in Wampsville, Madison County, has also received 10 computers this month, adding to the 10 computers delivered by NYPA last November. The Authority has made the equipment available to public facilities throughout the state, with emphasis on schools and other non-profit entities involved in educational programs and community-service projects. Each computer has been thoroughly cleaned and furnished with 64 megabytes of memory. In 2004, NYPA delivered 185 surplus computers through the state’s Computer Recycling for Education and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) program.

BATH: Electric System Joins Electric-Drive-Vehicle Program—The Village of Bath is the latest municipal electric system customer to benefit from a NYPA loan program promoting purchases of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. Bath Electric, Gas and Water Systems received a new Ford Escape hybrid-electric sport utility vehicle in February under the program, and a hybrid-electric Toyota Prius sedan is scheduled for delivery later this spring. Both will be used as fleet vehicles by the municipal utility, which provides low-cost NYPA electricity to some 4,000 customers, along with gas, water and sewer services to 2,500 customers, in Steuben County. Working with the state’s Municipal Electric Utilities Association, the Power Authority has established a $1.2 million fund to provide loans for purchases of electric-drive vehicles by municipal electric utilities and rural electric cooperatives. Other program participants are Boonville, Fairport, Rouses Point, Spencerport and Springville.

NORTH BLENHEIM: Travelogue Series Back at Visitors Center— The vacation deal of the year will take place every Sunday in March at the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project’s visitors center, where visitors can travel to faraway places without leaving their seats at the center’s annual World Travelogue Series. The slide show and lecture programs, starting at 2:30 p.m., will feature Scandinavia, especially Norway, Sweden and Denmark, with Walter Clark, March 6; The Presidents’ Ladies with Bill Massoth, March 13; Italy with Don Griffith, March 20; and Eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, with Peg and Bob Farrell, March 27. Admission is free, but please call 1-800-724-0309 for reservations.

In the Community: A Power Authority energy-efficiency exhibit was on view at the 34th annual conference of the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators, Albany, Feb. 18-21….The staff of the Niagara Power Project’s visitors center gave presentations on the Basics of Electricity and tours of the center for 65 students from Highgate Heights Elementary School, Buffalo, Feb. 22, and 112 students from Buffalo’s Charter School for Applied Technologies, Feb. 14 and 15….Carol Simpson, community relations representative, gave a Basics of Electricity presentation at St. Mary's Elementary School, Potsdam, Feb. 15….Rich Mueller, Sr., an engineer at the Clark Energy Center, spoke to third graders at Holland Patent Elementary School on electrical safety in the home, Feb. 14….Applications for boating permits for the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project’s upper and lower reservoirs, Gilboa, will soon be available. Call the visitors center at 1-800-724-0309 to get on the list for an application. The boating season is tentatively scheduled to open April 1.