ALBANY: Governor Cites Growth of Clean School Bus Program— Gov. George Pataki announced on March 3 that the Power Authority will expand its Clean School Bus Program, installing pollution-control devices that will significantly cut harmful emissions on 1,500 to 2,000 New York City school buses. The $6 million program began in 2003 with the aim of retrofitting up to 1,000 school buses. The NYPA program is also providing cleaner-burning ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel for 2,800 New York City school buses, more than two-thirds of the school buses operating in the city. Governor Pataki said the expanded program “is part of our two-pronged approach that is helping to install pollution-reducing technology on existing diesel buses while we seek to ensure that in the future, every new school bus purchased in the state will run on clean fuel.” With 2,000 buses equipped with diesel oxidation catalysts and fueled with ultra-low-sulfur diesel, the NYPA initiative would reduce particulate matter emissions by up to nearly 25,000 pounds annually. The Clean School Bus Program is part of a voluntary $23 million Power Authority effort to offset emissions from its installation of small, clean power plants at six sites in New York City.

NEW YORK: NYPA Looks Ahead to Summer Conservation Effort— More than 100 representatives of Power Authority governmental and business customers filled a conference room at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s downtown headquarters on March 4 for a briefing on NYPA’s sixth summer-long Peak Load Management (PLM) energy conservation program. Participants, including government agencies and banks, newspapers and other large companies, obtain a $40-per-kilowatt incentive for trimming their electricity use, at the Power Authority’s request, on summer’s hottest days by operating standby generators or cutting back on discretionary load. Customer facilities in the program grew from 75 in 2003 to 94 last year. New this year will be a customized web site where participants can log on to late-breaking PLM event notices, update their load-reduction commitments and download graphs showing the performance of individual facilities. In addition, NYPA-directed workshops will brief customers with their own generators on new state Department of Environmental Conservation emission standards.

BUFFALO: NYPA Helps State’s Second-Largest City Save Energy— Taxpayers in the Buffalo area are saving $2.4 million a year in energy costs through the Power Authority’s energy-efficiency projects at government facilities. The projects also eliminate more than 20,000 tons of greenhouse gases each year. The latest projects, at the State University of New York at Buffalo, involve window replacements, roofing modifications and masonry repair at the Governors Residence Halls and window replacements and upgrades to the heating, air-conditioning, electrical and lighting systems at the Goodyear Hall dormitory. In recent years, the Power Authority has performed similar work for the Buffalo City Schools, Erie County, Buffalo State College and other government entities. Overall, there have been 30 NYPA energy-efficiency projects at 104 facilities in the Buffalo area, representing an investment by the Power Authority of $43 million, which is recovered through the energy savings.

NEW YORK: Energy Upgrades Boost City Sanitation Garages— NYPA has begun a diversified $4 million energy-efficiency program at nine Department of Sanitation garages in all five city boroughs, with energy savings projected at more than $430,000 a year from reductions in electricity and fuel use and maintenance. The Power Authority will install energy-efficient metal halide lighting in the facilities’ offices and garage bays and replace aging and broken motors and pumps with premium-efficiency units. Boilers will receive updated electronic combustion controls to decrease fuel consumption and emissions. Rapid roll-up doors will improve building insulation and, by helping to maintain proper temperatures year-round, reduce potential equipment freeze-ups, permit faster entrances and exits of snow-removal trucks and improve winter working conditions. NYPA will provide up-front financing and recover its costs from the energy savings.

BROOKLYN: Hospital to Benefit From NYPA Energy Services— Power Authority crews have begun work on a major energy upgrade at Coney Island Hospital that will reduce the facility’s energy costs by more than $180,000 annually. A new energy management system will provide better control of existing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units in the main hospital and its Hammett Pavilion, the major buildings on the Ocean Parkway campus. The new system will be tied to a third building under construction nearby. NYPA is also installing new lighting in patient rooms and occupancy sensors in private offices, lounges and common areas. NYPA funded the project and will be reimbursed by sharing in the hospital’s energy savings. Work on the $1.7 million project is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

GILBOA: Equipment Contract Awarded for Project Overhaul— Power Authority trustees have approved a contract for new computer monitoring and control equipment to be used during major modernization and life extension work at NYPA’s Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project in Schoharie County. The trustees on Feb. 23 selected Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution of San Jose, Calif., to supply the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) equipment. Siemens, which submitted the low bid, will deliver the equipment before the start of the four-year, $135 million upgrade, scheduled to begin in September 2006. The existing SCADA equipment must be replaced to create an up-to-date expandable system to handle the additional requirements of the modernization program. Under the trustees’ authorization, the amount NYPA will spend for the new monitoring and control equipment is not to exceed $875,000.

In the Community: Ed Szpala, construction superintendent at the Niagara Power Project, explained the project’s operation during a presentation by the Technical Societies Council of the Niagara Frontier to high school students at the State University of New York at Buffalo, March 12….An exhibit on the Niagara project’s visitors center was on view at the Vacationing in Your Own Backyard community event, Walden Galleria Mall, Cheektowaga, March 12….Lori Presti, senior tour guide at the Niagara project, was one of the judges at the second annual Invention Convention, Starpoint Middle School, Lockport, March 7….Carol Rodino, community relations manager, gave a presentation on careers in the utility industry at Saquoit Middle School, March 4.