GARDEN CITY: Battery Storage Will Cut Bus Line Energy Costs—NYPA conceived and has begun construction of an advanced battery energy storage system at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Garden City facility servicing its Long Island Bus subsidiary. Once installed later this year, the device will power three 600-horsepower compressors to fuel 220 buses that run on compressed natural gas, and then recharge itself from the grid at night when electric rates are reduced. The system, capable of discharging one megawatt of power for up to seven hours, will be one of the first and largest sodium-sulfur technology systems in the United States. The noiseless, emission-free device is a collection of more than 6,400 sodium-sulfur battery cells grouped into 20 modules. Long Island Bus routes link Long Island and Queens communities to New York City transportation hubs. The company had previously limited its refueling schedule and gas compressor operations to overnight periods, requiring a full maintenance crew and supervision.

QUEENS: Cleaner Sanitation Trucks Improve Queens Air— Clean Air Communities, through its Power Authority-funded Queens Clean Air Project (QCAP), has granted the New York City Department of Sanitation $422,000 to install pollution controls on 65 refuse collection trucks operating in northwest Queens. The retrofits will significantly reduce emissions of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, helping to improve air quality in neighborhoods suffering from some of the highest asthma rates in the nation. The QCAP has also installed the largest “green roof” in New York atop Silvercup Studios, and deployed 50 solar-powered trash compactors throughout Queens. QCAP is working with Delta Airlines to replace diesel-powered ground service equipment with electric alternatives at the Marine Air Terminal at La Guardia Airport.

HAUPPAUGE: Energy Upgrade Benefits State Office Building— The Perry B. Duryea Jr. State Office Building now ranks among the most energy-efficient government facilities on Long Island thanks to a $2.8 million upgrade completed through the Power Authority’s energy services program that will result in annual savings of $231,000 in energy costs. The New York State Office of General Services owns and operates the building. In the first of three phases of energy improvements, NYPA installed three new 400-ton electric chillers and efficient motors to upgrade heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Later this year NYPA will replace glass panels in the atrium entrance with a new glass curtain wall, and install a 200-kilowatt (kw) fuel cell and 500-kw natural gas generator for operation in a combined heat-and-power mode. The fuel cell will provide about one quarter of the building’s power needs, and it and the generator will provide backup power in emergencies. NYPA has completed more than 50 energy efficiency projects at close to 200 Suffolk County facilities, for energy savings topping $8 million a year.

SYRACUSE: NYPA, Consumer Board Promote Energy Savings— The Power Authority teamed with the New York State Consumer Protection Board (CPB) for a series of press conferences across the state in May to promote energy conservation, particularly for gasoline as prices shot to $3 per gallon. The CPB asked the public to report any sharp increases in gasoline prices, and offered several mechanical and smart-driving tips to save gasoline. NYPA displayed a fuel-efficient hybrid-electric vehicle, which gets significantly better gas mileage because it operates on electricity as well as gasoline. Events were held in New York City, Albany, Farmingdale, Rochester and Syracuse, and more are planned.

MASSENA: Historical Photos Depict Hydro Project Construction—As part of its 75th anniversary commemoration, the Power Authority has mounted a display of historical photographs taken during construction of NYPA’s first generating facility, known today as the St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project. The framed, 20-by-24-inch photos are on display in NYPA’s admission-free Hawkins Point Visitors Center. Some of the images, which artfully depict men and machines during construction from 1954 to 1959, appeared in National Geographic Magazine, which published an article in 1959 about the newly opened St. Lawrence Seaway and the international hydroelectric project built alongside it. The photography exhibit, which will remain on display indefinitely, opened almost 75 years from the date Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation creating the Power Authority on April 27, 1931. To learn more about NYPA history, visit: www.nypa.gov 

In the Community: Power Authority Speakers Bureau members spoke to the Ozone Park Kiwanis Club, May 17, and to the Flushing Chapter of AARP, May 15—both presentations were on the Power Authority’s programs in New York City—and to the Telephone Pioneers Gem Club, on electrical safety in the home, May 16...Staff at the Niagara Power Project displayed an exhibit on the visitors center at the Spring Open Niagara, USA, Family Fun Center, Niagara Falls State Park, May 13, and at the 2006 Pathfinders Awards sponsored by Buffalo Alliance for Education, Cheektowaga, May 11…Power Authority representatives also spoke on the basics of electricity and demonstrated a NYPA hybrid-electric vehicle to students at West Carthage Central Elementary School, May 11, I.S. 145, Bronx, May 10, Oak Street Elementary School, Plattsburgh, May 10, and the Lincoln Titus School, Crompound, May 5…The Power Authority co-sponsored and displayed an exhibit at the North Country Sustainable Energy Fair in Canton, May 6, and sponsored the 20th annual Richard W. Catlin Art/Science/Technology Fair at the Tonawanda Middle School, May 5.