NYPA, Lake Placid Partner on Two Solar PV Units: Grant Helps Village Fund Clean Energy Projects

Contacts:
Christine Pritchard
518-433-6700
christine.pritchard@nypa.gov
Kimberly Rielly
518-637-6559 
May 19, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LAKE PLACID—New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and  Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Kessel today was joined by Lake Placid Village Mayor Craig Randall  and members of the Lake Placid Green Team to announce a partnership to advance clean energy initiatives throughout the community.  Highlighting such efforts are two 10 kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) projects that will be installed in the Village as part of NYPA’s Solar PV Incentive Program for its Municipal and Rural Electric System Cooperative customers.  

“In these difficult economic times, it is critical to do everything possible to alleviate the burden on New Yorkers coping with high electricity costs,” Kessel said. “Together with our partners such as the Village of Lake Placid and other municipal electric and rural cooperative systems, we are encouraging the growth of renewable energy systems so that residents and businesses can lower their energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint.

“I commend Kate Fish, Jen Holderied, the co-chairs of the Lake Placid Green Team, as well as Mayor Randall and others, for their efforts to advance clean energy and energy conservation throughout the community. It is initiatives such as this that lead the way toward promoting energy independence and energy savings,” added Kessel.

 “We are in the process right now of designing the two projects and under the grant award from NYPA we may be able to select an additional location for a solar project,” said Mayor Randall. “We commend the Power Authority for commencing this important renewable energy program that will help our community lower its energy demand and help our residents lower their power bills.”

NYPA is providing $125,000 in funding for residential solar programs to the Village. To date, $40,000 in grants for each of two solar projects in Lake Placid have already been approved.  Peter Kroha, electric superintendent with the Lake Placid electric system, noted the two sites chosen will be ground mounted units at the River Side Drive Farm and a rooftop system at 516 Mirror Lake Drive.

NYPA is offering this incentive to its municipal customers for the installation of solar systems as part of its effort to support the State’s “45 by 15” innovative plan for New York to meet 45 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy by 2015.

Typical small PV systems can cost around $8 per watt. The incentive under the NYPA lower that cost to $4 per watt and will apply to systems up to 10 kilowatts at residential and commercial facilities. Both the state and federal governments also offer tax credits for solar PV installations.

Kessel also noted several other NYPA-sponsored programs that the Village of Lake Placid has participated in over the past several years. They include:

NYPA’s Municipal Alternative Drive Vehicle Program - which provides zero percent financing on hybrid vehicles and grant money for the purchase of bucket trucks. Lake Placid has five such vehicles, including one bucket truck, a Ford Escape and three Chevy Silverados;
NYPA’s Weatherization/Insulation Program - 300 home weatherization kits were distributed last year in Lake Placid using kits provided by the Power Authority. More recently NYPA  has offered low cost financing for attic and crawl space insulation for residential homes in the village;
NYPA’s Tree Planting Program – 2,250 trees have been planted within the Village since 2002, when Lake Placid signed on to this program. NYPA purchases one tree for every tree purchased by a municipal electric system;
Lake Placid’s participation in the Independent Energy Efficiency Program has allowed the village to install low energy lighting in its municipal and school buildings, hospitals and the library. Working with NYPA,  the Village of Lake Placid has replaced 125 outdated and old refrigerators with Energy Star refrigerators in Lake Placid’s public housing buildings and has purchased an infrared camera for heat loss analysis and audits of homes and buildings; 

Co-funding by NYPA for a feasibility study to install a 250kw hydro-electric generator at the existing power dam in Lake Placid;
A partnership between NYPA and the Village of Lake Placid in reducing its energy demand and usage by five megawatts by designing and implementing a sliding scale rate structure and engaging in efforts to make residential homes more energy efficient;
During the past 15 years, NYPA also has partnered with the Olympic Regional Development Authority, another member of the Green Team, on several projects to maintain and upgrade the Olympic facilities:

Installation of state of the art, energy efficient snowmaking machines;
Installation of a diesel powered compressor to allow more flexibility in snowmaking; and
The replacement of diesel driven rental compressor units with new, high performance electric compressors and control systems at both Gore and Whiteface mountains. 

About NYPA
NYPA is the nation's largest state public power organization, through the operation of its 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. More than 70 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. Follow @NYPAenergy on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, YouTube, and LinkedIn.