ALBANY: NYPA Helps Promote ‘Energy Smart Summer’— The Power Authority, the state Public Service Commission and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority are teaming up to promote an “Energy Smart Summer” aimed at saving money and megawatts. The $1.5 million campaign will provide the public with tips on low-cost and no-cost steps they can take to conserve energy when increases in demand typically lead to higher electricity prices. Air conditioners are a major element of the campaign, which encourages consumers to replace old, inefficient room air conditioners with new Energy Star® models. A website, www.GetEnergySmart.org , explains how to choose a new air conditioner and, as a further benefit to the environment, where to recycle an old unit. Additional information on reducing energy use also is available at the website.

LEWISTON: NYPA, Niagara University Reach Agreement— An agreement between the Power Authority and Niagara University for the relicensing of NYPA’s Niagara Power Project will support the continuation of low-cost hydropower for Western New York and provide substantial financial benefits for the university following issuance of a new 50-year license for the generating facility. NYPA’s license application is currently pending before federal regulators. The Rev. Joseph Levesque, C.M., president of Niagara University, said the agreement addresses both short- and long-term needs of the college, with students the ultimate beneficiaries. NYPA President Timothy Carey said the mutually beneficial agreement sustains the cooperative relationship between the neighboring organizations. It will provide Niagara University with a one-time payment of $9.5 million for a new capital fund, a one-time payment of $1 million for a landscape fund and the opportunity to purchase up to three megawatts of low-cost Niagara hydropower. Also included is transfer of a 24-acre parcel from NYPA to the school. The Niagara project’s original 50-year license expires in August 2007.

WHITE PLAINS: Power Authority Joins Pollution/Asthma Study— NYPA will participate in the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) Children’s Air Pollution Asthma Study (CAPAS) starting later this year. The study will be among the most comprehensive to date on air pollution and childhood asthma. It will measure a wide range of pollutants in selected homes and outdoor monitoring stations to evaluate the relationship between indoor and outdoor pollutants, as well as their origins. In addition to NYPA, several other utilities in the nation are part of EPRI’s team, which includes the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health. CAPAS is a component of the nationwide Aerosol Research and Inhalation Epidemiology Study being conducted by EPRI, the electric utility industry’s research and technology organization.

NORTH BLENHEIM: Old-Time Cars and ‘Base Ball’ On Tap— Two major summer events are scheduled for early June at the Power Authority’s Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project Visitors Center. The D.A.R.E. car show, which helps raise money for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, will be held on June 11 from noon to 4 p.m., featuring antique autos, race and custom cars, hot rods and street machines. The event annually attracts hundreds of cars for display. On June 17, starting at noon, the Roxbury Nine Vintage Base Ball Club will play a 19th century-style “base ball” game dressed in period uniforms. The team plays exhibition games at its home field in the Catskills town of Roxbury and participates in tournaments throughout the Northeast.

WHITE PLAINS: Program for Visually Impaired Gets Assistance— NYPA will help sponsor a Saturday Youth Program for children who are visually impaired and have other disabilities, at the White Plains branch of Lighthouse International, an organization dedicated to overcoming vision impairment. The program is for youngsters ages 6 to 13 and will be offered October to May. The Power Authority grant will be used to help support activities such as bowling, ice skating and day trips to area attractions like the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo.

MASSENA: Hawkins Point To Host ‘Power Dam Jam’ in August— The Power Authority is a major sponsor of the “Power Dam Jam” scheduled for Aug. 11 and 12, and NYPA will host the event at its new Hawkins Point Visitors Center. Timothy Carey, NYPA president, called Hawkins Point “a stunning venue for the music festival, with its spacious grounds and picture-perfect views of the St. Lawrence River and the Power Dam.” Organized by the Greater Massena Chamber of Commerce, the Power Dam Jam revitalizes the 20-year NYPA-sponsored Festival of North Country Folklife. Other event sponsors are SeaComm Federal Credit Union, Alcoa and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Community Partnership. Music groups will include the bluegrass Gibson Brothers Band and a Celtic music ensemble, the Brigadoons. Also on the bill are concerts and performances featuring country music, fiddle tunes, gospel, bluegrass, ethnic folk music and more, plus a series of workshops, arts and crafts booths and local culinary treats. Admission will be $5 for the entire event. The Power Dam Jam will take place under a tent, so will be held rain or shine.

WHITE PLAINS: Power Authority Receives 10th Safety Award—NYPA has received an American Public Power Association Electric Utility Safety Award for the 10th year in a row. NYPA ranked second for “safety in the workplace” out of 18 public power utilities in its category. Since 1988, the Power Authority has captured first place 14 times in the contest, and second place four times. NYPA President and CEO Timothy Carey said, “These outstanding awards were earned by our employees through their efforts to keep safety topmost in their priorities… recognizing that safety is fundamental to the way we go about our work and can never be compromised.”

In the Community: Niagara Power Project representatives staffed a visitors center informational booth at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Festival, Hyde Park, Niagara Falls, June 3…The Power Authority co-sponsored the Staten Island Film Festival, June 1 to 4, and the 26th annual Astoria Civic Association Bike Race for Kids, May 21…Electric-drive vehicles from NYPA’s fleet were displayed in the Niagara Falls Memorial Day parade, May 27, and at the John Pound Elementary School, Lockport, May 24…The Blenheim-Gilboa Visitors Center theater hosted several showings of “Bold Dream...Shining Legacy,” a history of the Power Authority produced to commemorate NYPA’s 75th anniversary, May 20 and 21…The hours at the Hawkins Point Visitors Center at the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project in Massena have been extended during the summer months from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project Visitors Center, Gilboa, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the hours of the Niagara Project’s Visitors Center, Lewiston, are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All centers are open seven days a week.