ALBANY: Zeltmann Promotes Energy Conservation This Winter— Power Authority President Eugene Zeltmann is urging NYPA customers and others to mount aggressive energy-conservation efforts this winter in response to unprecedented increases in electricity costs. Noting that prices in New York’s wholesale markets through September were up 45 percent from last year, Zeltmann said continued tight supplies and high prices for natural gas and oil, two of the state’s principal fuels for power plants, have made continuing high costs for electricity “all but inevitable.” His comments came in letters to the state’s 51 municipal electric systems and rural cooperatives, all of whom are Power Authority customers; to NYPA’s 115 governmental customers in New York City and Westchester County; and to the Authority’s business customers throughout the state. Also, Zeltmann and Peter Smith, president of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, issued a joint statement urging the state’s businesses to save energy. Zeltmann noted that New York is well positioned to address the current cost problems because of efforts under Gov. George Pataki’s leadership to encourage energy efficiency and increased use of clean, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Calling such initiatives “essential in combating high costs,” Zeltmann asked that individual consumers also be encouraged to conserve energy by turning out lights, adjusting thermostats or weatherizing their homes.

NEW YORK CITY: NYPA Says Thanks For Conservation Efforts— For their consistent energy-conservation efforts through an often sweltering summer, the Power Authority thanked its New York City electricity customers participating in NYPA’s Peak Load Management (PLM) program. NYPA requested energy cutbacks—dimming lights, shutting elevators, limiting computer usage and curbing other non-essential electricity use—on 10 days during the June-to-September period. Customer load reductions averaged 6 percent more than committed levels, and on Consolidated Edison’s record highest peak day of July 27, reductions were 16 percent above commitments. Some 14 electricity customers, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the city Department of Environmental Protection, the City University of New York and Citibank, participated in the PLM program at 95 locations, committing a total of 62 megawatts of load reduction—the power demand of about 60,000 homes—on each PLM “event” day. They agreed to lower energy use between noon and 6 p.m. on such days, for an incentive of $40 for each kilowatt of electricity saved.

BUFFALO: Power Allocations in Erie County Help Create Jobs— Some 30 new jobs will be created at two Erie County companies in return for low-cost hydropower from the Power Authority’s Niagara Power Project. Electro Abrasives Corp. in Hamburg, which manufactures silicon carbide and other powders, is investing $360,000 in its crushing plant and adding 10 new jobs to its current work force of 23 in return for its 700-kilowatt (kw) power allocation. The power will be drawn from a 445-kw block of Niagara industrial power known as replacement power, reserved for manufacturers on the Niagara Frontier. Malyn Industrial Ceramics, which makes ceramic components and recently purchased a new building in Clarence, is expanding its operation and adding 20 jobs to an existing work force of seven. Malyn’s 325-kw power allocation comes from a 250,000-kw block of Niagara industrial power called expansion power, also reserved for Western New York businesses. The allocations are the latest in a series approved by NYPA under an enhanced process for making low-cost hydropower available on a continuous basis for creating jobs in Western New York. In less than two years, the new job commitments have exceeded 2,500.

NEW YORK CITY: Housing Authority Receives Electric Vehicles— The Power Authority has stepped up its partnership with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) by donating 10 emission-free electric vehicles that will be used at housing development sites in the city’s five boroughs. The two- and four-passenger vehicles, built by Global Electric Motorcars (GEM)—a DaimlerChrysler subsidiary—will be used by Housing Authority staff to move work crews around the sites, transport light equipment and help improve response times on emergency maintenance calls. The GEMS can be charged by using a standard 110-volt outlet, and can travel 30 miles on a full charge. The vehicles will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, a plus for urban settings where air quality concerns are heightened. Douglas Apple, NYCHA’s general manager, called the recent donation a “perfect continuation of NYCHA’s partnership with the Power Authority in finding creative ways to reduce energy consumption.” In recent years NYPA aided the Housing Authority in installing nearly 185,000 energy-efficient refrigerators in public housing units citywide.

NEW YORK CITY: Public Invited to Learn About Hydrogen Fuel— The future of hydrogen as a clean and plentiful fuel source will be explored at a public workshop co-sponsored by the Power Authority on Nov. 9. A series of “H2 Educate” forums is being held across the state to provide updates on a “Hydrogen Roadmap” that outlines ways to integrate hydrogen fuel into New York’s future energy mix. Each session explains the potential of hydrogen as a fuel, reviews past and present successes and describes ongoing projects. Participants include representatives from government, business, industry and education. Teaming up with NYPA on this educational effort are the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), the National Energy Education Development Project and the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which is hosting the Nov. 9 forum in its Lower Manhattan Conference Facility at 110 William St. For more information about the hydrogen forum, visit www.NYSERDA.org  or call 1-800-658-5753. Details about the “Hydrogen Roadmap,” released Nov. 1 by NYSERDA in cooperation with NYPA and LIPA, are available in the “Press Center” section of the NYPA website (www.nypa.gov).

UTICA: Power Authority Co-Sponsors New York Curling Open— About 20 curling teams from around the world are scheduled to face off Nov. 10-13 at the Utica Curling Club for the New York Curling Open, co-sponsored by the Power Authority. Curling has been an Olympic sport since 1998, and several of the players competing in the Utica event either participated in the 2002 Olympics or hope to participate next February in Turin, Italy. In the event, described by some as a combination of shuffleboard and bocci on ice, four-member teams compete in hurling a 42-pound polished granite disc toward a 12-foot target 140 feet away while eliminating their opponents.

In the Community: The Niagara Power Project visitors center hosted a “Leadership Niagara” event honoring John Cooper and Merrell Lane from the Niagara Falls Air Base and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, for their outreach efforts in keeping the Air Base open, Lewiston, Nov. 2… NYPA presented a check for $2,000 to Clarkson University’s FIRST Robotics Team 229, Division by Zero, for use in the FIRST Robotics Competition, Potsdam. Clarkson students mentor students from Massena and Salmon River high schools in the multinational competition, which teams professionals and young people to solve engineering design problems...NYPA staff donated more than $7,300 to the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund and NYPA matched those funds, presenting the Westchester Chapter of the Red Cross with $14,630 to help its ongoing Gulf Coast humanitarian efforts, White Plains.