WHITE PLAINS: Power Authority Gets New Top Executive— Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced May 29 that Roger Kelley, an electric utility industry executive, will become the Power Authority’s president and chief executive officer at the end of June, following the retirement of current President and CEO Timothy Carey. Kelley has been senior vice president and chief technical officer for Fortistar for the past decade, overseeing technical and operational matters for Fortistar power plants. Kelley also is a board member and past chairman of the Independent Power Producers of New York. Power Authority trustees elected Kelley president and CEO after Carey announced his retirement following many years of public service, which began in 1984 when he was elected to the Westchester County Board of Legislators. Carey later served in several State-level positions, including president and CEO of the Battery Park City Authority in Manhattan. In January 2006 he was selected NYPA president and CEO, after serving as chief operating officer and previously as a trustee.

TUPPER LAKE: Carey Sets Adirondack Energy Objectives— An effort now under way to help resolve longstanding power reliability problems in the Tri-Lakes region “provides a case study in how to meet energy needs…while accounting for the special environmental requirements of a uniquely beautiful and sensitive area,” said Power Authority President Timothy Carey at the Adirondack Research Consortium’s annual conference in Tupper Lake on May 23. The project by NYPA, National Grid and the villages of Tupper Lake and Lake Placid calls for building a new, environmentally sensitive power line and pursuing local energy efficiency efforts, including installation of more than 200 new energy-efficient refrigerators in local public housing apartments. The Power Authority has conducted close to 70 free energy audits to identify opportunities for energy-efficiency measures in the two communities, which have received low-cost NYPA power for the past 40 years. Carey said NYPA has also funded a study for Tupper Lake on potential installation of a biomass generator using selected North Country wood products as a renewable power source, and will contribute $2 million for “green” building components in the proposed Lake Placid Conference Center. NYPA and National Grid examined wetlands, rivers, streams, wildlife habitats, fisheries and soils in planning the route for the new 46-kilovolt power line, scheduled for completion by the winter of 2008-2009.

LEWISTON: Trustees OK New License, Approve Contracts— The Power Authority’s Board of Trustees authorized acceptance of a new federal license for NYPA’s Niagara Power Project during a May 22 meeting at the hydropower facility. The 50-year license, issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in March, will take effect once the Niagara project’s original 50-year license expires on Aug. 31. Also during the meeting, the trustees approved nine new contracts that will provide low-cost hydropower, effective Sept. 1, to local entities that negotiated relicensing settlement agreements with NYPA. The contracts now go to Gov. Eliot Spitzer for his consideration. Seven of the contracts are for municipal members of the Niagara Power Coalition, representing host communities and school districts that encompass the boundaries of the hydropower project. Two other contracts were signed with the Tuscarora Nation and Niagara University. NYPA’s five-year relicensing process culminated in multiple settlement agreements that will provide benefits valued at approximately $1 billion over the life of the new license. Additionally, the power allocations will produce hundreds of millions of dollars in savings on electricity costs for the Niagara region.

LEWISTON: First Tuscarora Scholarships Are Announced— The first two winners in a 50-year scholarship program related to the relicensing of NYPA’s Niagara Power Project have been announced. Brooke Patterson, who graduated from Niagara Wheatfield High School in 2001, and Nicholas Smiedala, who will graduate from the same school this year, have been awarded full-tuition scholarships sponsored by the Power Authority. The winners, both of whom plan to attend Niagara County Community College, were announced on May 17 by the Tuscarora Scholarship Committee, which based its decision on a combination of academic excellence and community service. A ceremony honoring Patterson and Smiedala was held during a May 22 meeting of the Power Authority’s Board of Trustees at the Niagara project. As part of a relicensing settlement agreement with the Tuscarora Nation, NYPA will provide two scholarships to Tuscarora students each year for the full term of the Niagara project’s new 50-year federal license, which was approved in March and will take effect Sept. 1.

CLINTON: Wind Power to Travel NYPA Transmission Route— Two wind farms now under construction in Clinton County will use a NYPA transmission line to sell their electricity to the state power grid. Noble Environmental Power, of Connecticut, was recently awarded long-term contracts to provide wind power as part of New York’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. Plans call for the two wind farms, located in the towns of Clinton and Altona, to contain a total of 134 turbines, each rated at 1.5 megawatts. To make Noble’s wind power available to consumers, the Power Authority is facilitating access to its 230-kilovolt Willis-Plattsburgh transmission lines at two sites along the east-west route. The transmission agreement requires Noble to build two substations to NYPA specifications; ownership of the substations will be transferred to the Power Authority upon their completion. Noble hopes to have its wind farms producing electricity before the end of this year. New York’s renewable energy portfolio seeks to have 25 percent of the state’s electricity consumption coming from renewable energy sources, like wind power, by 2013.

NORTH BLENHEIM: Car Show, Vintage Baseball on Deck— Two main events of summer are about to break upon the scene at the Power Authority’s Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project Visitors Center. On June 10, the 13th annual D.A.R.E. car show will start at noon (8 a.m. to register show cars and trucks). A NASCAR race car will be featured. The $5 per vehicle admission fee will benefit Drug Abuse Resistance Education. On June 16, a vintage baseball game featuring the Roxbury Nine will highlight the 30th-anniversary celebration of Historic Lansing Manor, a restored 19th-century home on the Visitors Center grounds, as a museum. Opening ceremonies will be at 11:30 a.m. and the game at noon, with tours of the Manor all day. For more information on either event call NYPA at 1-800-724-0309.

BRONX: Power Authority Donates to Bronx River Alliance— The Power Authority has made a $4,500 donation to the Bronx River Alliance summer canoe/kayak program. The donation was made just before the launch of this year’s annual Bronx River Flotilla in early May. More than 80 kayaks and canoes paddled down the river from 219th Street to the East River. The Alliance is a consortium of more than 100 community-based, national and international organizations that works closely with the New York City Parks Department to protect and restore the Bronx River corridor and greenway as an ecological, recreational, educational and economic resource.