NEWS
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NYPA Awards Hydroelectric Inspection Contract to Upstate Engineering Consulting Firm Contact: May 3, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WHITE PLAINS—The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is contracting with a New York State firm with offices in Utica and the Buffalo area for an independent inspection of its Crescent and Vischer Ferry small hydroelectric projects on the Mohawk River, northwest of Albany. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requires independent inspections of licensed hydroelectric dams every five years by FERC-approved consultants. Gomez and Sullivan Engineers, P.C., submitted the low bid, in response to a NYPA request for proposals in February for a five-year contract, including follow-up work after the inspections. On April 28, the NYPA Board of Trustees approved the contract, for a projected total of $200,000. The Crescent and Vischer Ferry plants have net dependable capabilities of 9,948 kilowatts (kw) each, stemming from work NYPA completed in 1990 to expand their generating output with two new 3,000-kw turbine-generators at each site. The Power Authority also rehabilitated the dams, which were built in 1912 as part of the Erie Canal. Crescent and Vischer Ferry are among five small-hydro projects that NYPA operates on rivers and reservoirs in various parts of the state, helping to reduce New York State dependence on foreign oil. Hydropower accounts for more than 80 percent of the Power Authority’s total generating output, including the large water-power projects it operates on the Niagara and St. Lawrence Rivers, and the Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Project in the northern Catskills. 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 plants in various parts of the state and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines |
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