Op—ed
Green Light For Green Power

By Louis P. Ciminelli

Governor George E. Pataki signaled a green light for green power when he announced in his 2003 State of the State message that at least 25 percent of New York state’s electricity should come from clean, renewable energy sources within the next 10 years.

Meeting this challenge will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and of pollutants that cause smog and acid rain. It will cut our reliance on foreign oil. By encouraging construction of new sources of power, located near the consumer, it will help stave off future electricity shortages.

The governor’s green power initiative promises to create investment in renewable energy by assuring there will be customers for the power. And costs should come down as the technologies take hold.

The benefits of green power are already evident in New Yorks state. For example, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) owns and operates two major hydroelectric projects on the Niagara and St. Lawrence Rivers, which serve as the state’s largest existing renewable power sources. NYPA is investing more than $500 billion to modernize the projects and is seeking new 50-year federal licenses to replace the original licenses, which are expiring. As a result, New York will be able to continue to rely on these facilities as sources of emission-free, renewable electricity

Sustaining its heritage of renewable power, NYPA is also engaged in a variety of other green power projects, including:

•A program to obtain up to 50 megawatts (mw)—enough electricity for nearly 50,000 homes—from existing or new wind-powered projects in the state through competitive bidding.

•Plans to add two solar-powered units to go with the 18 solar projects NYPA has installed at public facilities in various parts of the state.

•Expanded programs to use the gases produced at landfills and in sewage treatment to produce power cleanly and efficiently. The free, readily available gases are usually flared off [burned] into the atmosphere.

The Power Authority is working with county and local governments in a $26 million program to develop power projects at public landfills throughout the state. The likely initial site in Colonie, north of Albany, where plans are moving ahead for a 3-mw power plant to be fueled by methane gas produced at the town’s landfill. Overall, New York state landfill projects, developed by NYPA or others, could economically produce about 50 mw.

NYPA already operates the world’s first commercial fuel cell to run on anaerobic digester gas (ADG) from sewage treatment at a Westchester County facility in Yonkers. It expects to have eight similar units in place at New York City sewage treatment plants by the middle of this year, making it the nation’s premier utility in the use of ADG fuel. In addition, NYPA helped to install two microturbines that run on ADG at the town of Lewiston’s wastewater treatment plant near Niagara Falls.

Such projects will provide impetus toward reaching the renewable power standard. The new directive will also build on Pataki’s Executive Order 111, issued in 2001 and requiring state agencies to obtain at least 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2005, and 20 percent by 2010. The twin requirements can make New York a national leader in meeting power needs while protecting and improving the environment. As with many of the Empire State’s past energy challenges, the New York Power Authority will work to play a significant role in achieving the governor’s green power goals.

Louis P. Ciminelli, a Buffalo business executive, is chairman of the New York Power Authority.