LEWISTON: Niagara Project Upgrade Creates Top Efficiency— The completion of a $298-million upgrade at NYPA’s Niagara Power Project in late December will enable the state’s largest electricity producer to operate at maximum efficiency for many years. Over the last 15 years, all 13 generating units at the project’s Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant were replaced, with most other components retrofitted. From initial design to hands-on labor, much of the upgrade was handled by NYPA staff. Because of the added efficiency, it is expected that the 2,400-megawatt hydropower project will be able to produce about 32 additional megawatts of power that will be available on a firm, or assured, basis. Federal law requires that half of this power be provided to municipal and rural cooperative customers in New York State. The remainder is expected to be allocated as part of agreements reached during the Niagara project relicensing. The original license for the project, which began operation in 1961, will expire in August 2007. A decision on a new 50-year license is pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

GARDEN CITY: NYPA Announces Funds for L.I. Bus Initiative— An innovative battery energy storage system for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Bus subsidiary has received a financial boost from a funding source administered by the Power Authority. Some $240,000 from Petroleum Overcharge Restitution (POCR) funds will be used to complete the energy storage device, which is being installed at a depot where transit buses are refueled with compressed natural gas. The system, capable of discharging one megawatt of power for up to seven hours, is one of the first and largest sodium sulfur cell technology installations in the United States. Upon its completion this spring, it will reduce energy and maintenance costs by powering a natural gas compressor during the day and automatically recharging itself at night when electricity rates are reduced. NYPA has helped to attract $1.9 million in funding for the project from several utility sources, including the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the Long Island Power Authority and the Electric Power Research Institute. NYPA will finance the remaining $1.9 million in project costs through its energy services program, allowing Long Island Bus to repay over several years.

WHITE PLAINS: Funding Announced for Seven Solar Projects— The Power Authority has announced that $525,000 will be provided to install solar power systems at seven Westchester County sites. Each of the public entities involved will receive $75,000 to finance installation of rooftop solar photovoltaic power systems, capable of generating about six kilowatts of electricity, enough to supply about two average-sized homes. The money, which comes from New York State’s share of Petroleum Overcharge Restitution (POCR) funds, is administered by the Power Authority. New solar power units will be installed at public facilities in the Town of Cortlandt, the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, the Village of Larchmont and the City of New Rochelle. Installations are also planned for facilities within the Irvington and Edgemont school districts and at Westchester County Community College in Valhalla. To date, NYPA is responsible for 25 solar photovoltaic projects at various locations in New York State, including one of the world’s largest arrays at the Gun Hill Bus Depot in the Bronx.

NIAGARA FALLS: Low-Cost Power Helps Western New York— Two manufacturers in Niagara and Orleans counties plan to add 32 new jobs and make more than $11 million in capital improvements as a result of a low-cost hydropower allocation from NYPA’s Niagara Power Project. The allocations are slated for Saint-Gobain Ceramics and Plastics Inc. in Niagara Falls, and EPCO Carbondioxide Products Inc. in Medina. In return for its 1,100-kilowatt (kw) allocation, Saint-Gobain Ceramics will add 12 new jobs to its existing 57 positions and invest several million dollars for new equipment and additional manufacturing capacity. The allocation allows the company to increase its competitiveness in worldwide markets and retain jobs in the region. EPCO will invest $7 million to install a new, 300-ton-per-day liquid carbon dioxide manufacturing plant which will include a new building and equipment. The company will create 20 new jobs for an allocation of 1,000 kw of replacement power. Nearly 44,000 jobs on the Niagara Frontier—or more than 70 percent of the area’s manufacturing jobs—are linked to a 445,000-kw block of hydropower called replacement power from the Niagara project that is held in reserve for economic development and job growth in Western New York.

SARANAC LAKE: NYPA Boosts Energy Efforts in Adirondacks— An energy-efficiency upgrade at the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) headquarters in Ray Brook, Essex County, leads the way in a new $500,000 NYPA-sponsored initiative to save energy and deploy clean energy technologies in the Adirondacks. The APA headquarters, constructed of logs from the 1950 “blow down” in the region, poses unique challenges for energy-efficient efforts. NYPA’s estimated $100,000 in upgrades include high-efficiency lighting, exterior insulation, dedicated climate controls for computer areas, a new boiler and enhanced heating, ventilation and cooling controls. NYPA is also performing energy audits on additional facilities in the Adirondacks that would benefit from the program. The initiative is expected to expand efforts already underway to provide energy savings for Adirondack communities, including major energy-efficiency upgrades for the Olympic Regional Development Authority and energy services partnerships with municipal electric systems in Lake Placid and Tupper Lake.