Executive Speeches

Remarks of Timothy S. Carey, president and chief executive officer of the New York Power Authority, at the Perry B. Duryea, Jr. State Office Building, Hauppauge, New York.

April 21, 2006

Good morning.  Three years ago, Governor Pataki officially designated this edifice the Perry B. Duryea, Jr. State Office Building to honor Assembly Speaker Perry Duryea’s enduring contributions to New York State.

Today, on behalf of Governor Pataki, I am here to announce how this building will make some enduring contributions of its own.

We have just completed the first phase of a major upgrade to the Perry B. Duryea State Office Building – a $2.8 million energy efficiency project that will save New York taxpayers $231,000 a year in energy bills and avoid the importation of over 2,000 barrels of foreign oil.

When Governor Pataki’s issued Executive Order 111 to make state entities more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, it was a challenge that the Power Authority couldn’t resist.

To date we’ve made over $845 million in energy-efficient investments in pubic buildings, cutting energy costs by $92 million a year and saving taxpayers the same.  Equally important, we’ve helped the state avoid the importation of 1.6 million barrels of oil, making New York State and the nation more energy secure.

The Perry B. Duryea Jr. State Office Building showcases this success.  This building now ranks among the most energy-efficient government buildings on Long Island.  And once the other two phases of the project are finished, it will be among the greenest as well.

In this first phase of the project, we’ve installed three new 400-ton electric chillers and made major efficiency improvements in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems. The piece de resistance, however, is the installation of a new computerized energy-management unit that’s as frugal with energy as Perry Duryea was with tax dollars.

Later this year, we’ll return to replace glass panels in the Atrium entrance way with a new glass-curtain wall and modified structural supports. After that, we’ll install a 200 kilowatt fuel cell and a 500-kilowatt natural gas generator for operation in a combined heat-and-power mode, one of the most efficient technologies known to man with energy savings exceeding 70 percent.

Taken together, these two units will supply roughly a quarter of the building’s electricity and serve as backup power in the event of brownouts or blackouts.  They will also enhance the building’s overall energy utilization, throwing off something like 900,000 BTUs an hour, which is certainly in keeping with Perry Duryea’s high energy personality.

Perry was a dear friend.  And a great believer in making the government more efficient and accountable to the taxpayers.  He would be proud to learn that to date the Power Authority has completed 56 energy-efficiency projects at 198 facilities throughout his beloved Suffolk County alone. He would be prouder still of the fact that these projects save Long Island taxpayers $8.1 million a year.

Add to that the savings from this project and we’re talking $8.3 million in taxpayer savings.

Perry.  This one’s for you.