NEW YORK: NYPA Seeks Additional Power for NYC Customers—The Power Authority has issued a request for proposals for generating capacity to help ensure reliable electricity service for its New York City governmental customers and the thousands of essential facilities they operate. NYPA is seeking as much as 500 megawatts of in-city capacity for up to 10 years, starting no sooner than Feb. 1, 2008, as part of a joint planning process with the governmental customers, including the City of New York and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the New York City Housing Authority. The capacity can be provided by power plants in New York City or from outside facilities via dedicated transmission lines to Con Edison’s electric system in the city. Last month, NYPA trustees approved the selection of three companies—Entergy, Morgan Stanley Capital Group and Zilkha Energy—to provide future energy supplies for the governmental customers.

ONEIDA COUNTY: Energy-Saving Projects Cut County Costs—Energy-efficiency projects completed by the Power Authority are helping Oneida County save about $400,000 a year in energy costs. A total of 18 Oneida County facilities have received energy upgrades. They include Union Station in Utica, Mohawk Valley Community College campuses in Utica and Rome, the Utica Memorial Auditorium, the Sheriff’s Department, several buildings at the Oneida County airport, the Public Works building, the Water Quality Control Facility and several office buildings. The improvements range from upgrades to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems to installation of high-efficiency lighting and energy-management systems. NYPA invested more than $5 million in the projects and will recover its costs through the energy savings. By reducing the need for power, the improvements also eliminate 3,300 tons of greenhouse gases each year.

MASSENA: Nesting Platforms to Improve Osprey Habitat— The first in a series of Habitat Improvement Projects that NYPA will create at its St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project will benefit a bird of prey considered a “species of special concern” by state conservation officials. As part of an $18 million package of environmental enhancements the Power Authority will undertake under the terms of its new 50-year license for the St. Lawrence-FDR project, NYPA will install 10 osprey nesting platforms within the project’s boundary. The first three were set up by NYPA employees this month, just in time for the return migration of osprey to the North Country. Jefford Steel of Potsdam manufactured the 3- by 3-foot platforms, which are mounted on poles at riverside locations in Massena, Louisville and Waddington. The Power Authority will monitor use of the first three nesting platforms before installing the remaining seven. Work on at least two other Habitat Improvement Projects, involving nesting enhancements for the common tern and a variety of grassland birds, is scheduled to begin later this year.

STATEN ISLAND: NYPA Supports Zoo, High School Programs— The Power Authority is continuing its support of public facilities in the borough, making a financial contribution to the Staten Island Zoo and administering funds for lighting improvements at Susan E. Wagner High School. NYPA donated $1,500 to the zoo on March 8 for its educational programs. Last year, the Power Authority gave the zoo $1,000 for educational purposes, along with an emission-free electric-drive vehicle for use around the eight-acre park, which receives NYPA electricity. At Wagner high school, grants announced on March 11 for auditorium renovations consist of $250,000 from New York City sources and $100,000 through New York State’s share of Petroleum Overcharge Restitution (POCR) funds, which NYPA administers. School officials will use the money to improve lighting in the auditorium and the adjoining stage area. NYPA has also financed almost $19 million in energy services projects at more than 60 public facilities on Staten Island.

OSSINING: Black Achiever Dinner to Honor Local Resident— Jackie Copeland, the Power Authority’s 2004 Black Achiever in Industry, will be among the honorees at the Harlem Y's 35th-annual Salute to Black Achievers dinner, March 31 in New York City. Copeland, a NYPA senior systems analyst, was cited for her contribution in developing a computerized Travel Reporting Information Package, which integrates information from the private travel industry’s standard trip-reservation system with the requirements of a public-sector travel desk such as the Authority’s. An Ossining resident, she has served as vice president of the Parent Advisory Council for the Mercy College Science and Technology Program in Dobbs Ferry. Copeland was also honored at Gov. George Pataki's Tribute to African-American Leaders in State Service, held Feb. 1 in Albany to kick off New York State's observance of African-American History Month.

HERE AND THERE: NYPA to Co-sponsor Student Envirothons—Students from high schools on Long Island and in Oneida County and the Capital Region will test their environmental knowledge during three NYPA-co-sponsored envirothons in April. In daylong, hands-on competitions, teams of students will demonstrate their problem-solving abilities in aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and a new topic, human relationships with the natural environment. The Long Island Envirothon will be held on the campus of St. John's University in Oakdale on April 20, the Oneida County Envirothon at Verona State Park on Oneida Lake on April 27, and the Capital Region Envirothon at NYPA's Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project visitors center in Schoharie County on April 28. The winning teams from these and other envirothons will travel to the New York State Envirothon in Oswego in late May.

In the Community: Carol Simpson, community relations representative, gave presentations on the Basics of Electricity at Madill Elementary School, Ogdensburg, March 22, and St. Augustine Elementary School, Peru, March 16.… In conjunction with Small Business Day in Albany, NYPA co-sponsored Buffalo-Niagara Night in Albany, which brought together representatives of Buffalo and Niagara businesses with former Buffalonians, legislators, staff members and lobbyists, March 21.…A Power Authority electric vehicle was on view at Buffalo State College’s science building for a class on electric power, March 16….Rob Daly, special adviser for relicensing, gave a presentation on the relicensing of the Niagara Power Project to the Niagara Falls Kiwanis Club, March 15….Ed Szpala, construction superintendent, explained the operation of the Niagara project’s Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant and its ongoing upgrade to more than 400 students at the State University of New York at Buffalo, March 12.… An exhibition on the Niagara Power Project and its Power Vista visitors center was on display at the Vacationing in Your Own Backyard event at the Walden Galleria Mall, Cheektowaga, March 12 and 13.