NYPA President Carey Seeks to
Expand Energy Partnership with City
Contact:
Stephen Shoenholz
914-390-8165
stephen.shoenholz@nypa.gov
October 31, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK—New York Power Authority (NYPA) President
and Chief Executive Officer Timothy S. Carey said Tuesday that the
Power Authority is poised to expand its current extensive efforts to
promote energy efficiency and clean new energy technologies in New
York City.
“My goal is nothing less than to make the New York
Power Authority the cleanest and greenest electric utility in the
United States,” Carey said in testimony at a hearing conducted by
the City Council’s Committees on Environmental Protection and
Consumer Affairs. “And the success and continuing growth of our
partnership with the city are essential to achieving that goal.”
Carey noted at the City Hall hearing that the Power
Authority has completed energy efficiency projects at nearly 1,200
government buildings, schools, hospitals and other public facilities
throughout the city, at a total cost of close to $565 million.
These projects, he said, save taxpayers nearly $58 million a year.
They also lower peak demand for electricity by 95 megawatts, reduce
annual oil use by more than 1.1 million barrels and cut yearly
greenhouse-gas emissions by close to 480,000 tons.
He said NYPA, under the leadership of Gov. George
E. Pataki, has brought some $130 million worth of energy efficiency
projects to various stages of development in the city, including $27
million in projects that are ready to go into construction pending
approval of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
In addition, he said, the Power Authority plans to
begin a major study next year of the further potential for energy
efficiency at facilities operated by the city and other NYPA
government customers such as the City Housing Authority, the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority. He said NYPA has offered to conduct
energy audits and to follow up with energy efficiency measures at
every city-owned facility, beginning with the largest energy users.
“Our energy efficiency projects are complemented by
our very successful summertime peak-load management program, in
which we pay our government and business customers in the city $40
for each kilowatt of load they agree to cut upon request,” Carey
said.
He testified that the program this year included 92
locations in the five boroughs and that hourly peak demand on the
summer’s highest use day, Aug. 2, was cut by an average of 84
megawatts, nearly twice the total customer commitment.
Carey said the Power Authority began supplying
economical electricity to the New York City government more than 30
years ago and that savings to the city typically amount to at least
$250 million a year.
“Our focus 30 years ago was strictly on the supply
of lower-cost electricity,” he testified. “Now it goes well beyond
that.”
Carey said NYPA has installed 12 fuel cells,
totaling 2.4 megawatts of capacity, at various public facilities in
New York City, including the historic Central Park police station
and four city wastewater treatment plants in the Bronx, Brooklyn and
Staten Island. He added that the Authority has completed seven
solar projects in the city, including a 300-kilowatt installation at
the Gun Hill Bus Depot in the Bronx that is one of the largest such
facilities in the nation.
“We also intend to provide nearly five megawatts of
fuel cell capacity at the new World Trade Center complex in what
will be one of the world’s largest fuel cell installations,” Carey
said.
Carey commended the Council for enacting “bold and
comprehensive” legislation to promote the development of “green
buildings” in the city.
The legislation, which takes effect Jan. 1, will
require that most non-residential new construction and major
alterations financed by the city achieve certification under the
U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED program—for Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design—as well as substantial energy cost
savings.
As president and chief executive officer of the
Battery Park City Authority, Carey directed construction of the
nation’s first green residential high-rise building, the Solaire,
which attained the coveted LEED gold certification in 2004. He was
named to the USGBC board earlier this year.
“The Power Authority is engaged in a major project
to earn LEED certification for its headquarters building in White
Plains,” Carey said. “We hope to share the experience we gain in
this endeavor with our customers, including, of course, the City of
New York.”
NYPA President and CEO Timothy Carey's
testimony
About NYPA:
■ 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. ■ NYPA is a leader in promoting
energy-efficiency, new energy technologies and electric
transportation initiatives. ■ It is the
nation’s largest state-owned electric utility, with 18 generating
facilities in various parts of the state and more than 1,400
circuit-miles of transmission lines.
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