Executive Speeches

Remarks of Eugene W. Zeltmann, president & chief operating officer of the New York Power Authority, at a TH!NK electric vehicle presentation, Town of Eastchester, New York.

October 23, 2001

Thank you, Supervisor Cavanaugh.

I’m delighted to be here to present this Ford TH!NK city electric vehicle to the Town of Eastchester for use in its parking enforcement program.

I can’t promise, Chief Speidell, that the TH!NK will make people any happier to see tickets on their cars.

But—in line with two of Governor Pataki’s most important goals—it will very definitely benefit the residents of Eastchester by contributing to cleaner air and to lower operating costs for the Town’s police department—and the taxpayers. It will do its part to reduce this nation’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil. And it will be the first TH!NK vehicle to be used in a municipal fleet in New York—a distinction that we hope will eventually encourage other communities to follow Eastchester’s lead.

The arrival of this handsome new vehicle also marks a new phase in the Power Authority’s long cooperative relationship with the Town of Eastchester.

The Authority supplies low-cost electricity for public purposes to the Town, its school and fire districts, the Villages of Bronxville and Tuckahoe and other local public entities—again with taxpayer savings.

Our energy efficiency projects at schools and other public facilities in the Town and the villages provide additional savings of nearly $170,000 a year—while cutting emissions of greenhouse gases. And we’ve previously helped to obtain an electric bicycle—here today—that the Town uses for police patrols, and an electric car that’s deployed for parking enforcement by the Village of Tuckahoe.

Today’s presentation builds both on these productive partnerships and on the Power Authority’s ambitious efforts—under Governor Pataki’s leadership—to promote and demonstrate the advantages of electric transportation.

As part of his commitment to cleaner air for all New Yorkers, the Governor has encouraged use of electric and other clean-fuel vehicles through tax incentives, Bond Act financing and—most recently—an Executive Order requiring that the state fleet be made up entirely of such vehicles by the year 2010.

The Power Authority, meanwhile, has helped put on the road more than 200 electric and hybrid-electric vehicles of various types—from buses to bicycles—in its own fleet and those of its customers. These vehicles have traveled more than 1.6 million miles—and last year made NYPA the Northeast’s first electric utility to reach the million-mile mark.

Just last week, the Power Authority’s Chairman—Joe Seymour—joined officials from Ford, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other agencies to announce an exciting "Clean Commute" program that will use TH!NK vehicles identical to the one we’re presenting here today.

The Clean Commute program and our other electric transportation projects are sources of particular pride for me since, as the Supervisor mentioned, I’m privileged to serve as co-chairman of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas—an international group of more than 100 public and private entities dedicated to promoting electric transportation and its varied benefits.

The fact is that cars and trucks account for about one-third of all the air pollution in this country. And two-thirds of all the oil we use goes for transportation. So the advantages of electric and other clean vehicles are clear.

They can protect and improve our environment. They can cut our reliance on imported oil—a goal that’s become more vital than ever since the events of September 11. And—as several projects involving the Power Authority have shown—they can create jobs at related industries in New York State.

Today’s presentation of the TH!NK city electric vehicle is very much in keeping with these objectives. The Power Authority is honored to join the Town of Eastchester in this pioneering initiative. And so I would now like to ask Supervisor Cavanaugh to come back to the microphone so I can turn over the keys to him.

(President Zeltmann presents car keys to Supervisor Cavanaugh.)

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