Power Authority Buys Electric Power From NJ for NYC Gov't Customers
BY JOHN TOSCANO

For thousands of Northwest Queens residents who suffered through a nightmarish power blackout this past summer, be assured that the state Power Authority is lining up new sources of electrical energy. For a change, those sources won't include a new power facility in the already saturated Astoria/Long Island City area.

The site is not in New York City or this state at all, but a place called Ridgefield, New Jersey.

That's right! The New York Power Authority (NYPA) announced last week that it has approved a proposal for ensuring continued reliable electricity service for its public customers in New York City.

Public customers include the energy needs of schools, hospitals, municipal buildings, subways, commuter trains and other similar, essential facilities and services.

Some of our readers, still smarting from the recent blackout, must be saying, "What about us". That would be understandable.

Looking at the bigger picture, if the new source of power from New Jersey is taking care of some of New York City's power needs, that means NYPA doesn't have to use other power sources in the city or state that are earmarked for residential or business customers.

In the present case, a spokesman for NYPA said that the additional electrical capacity and transmission from New Jersey will complement electricity supplies that NYPA provides the governmental customers from its own power generation and market purchases.

This includes, the spokesman said, a new 500-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle plant in Queens that NYPA completed in late 2005 and "is among the cleanest, most efficient sources of electricity in the city", NYPA said.

The new electrical power source from New Jersey will provide the New York City governmental customers a total of more than 1,800 MW, equivalent to the output of two large power plants and enough to serve these customers during peak demands in the summer.

Among the customers we're talking about are: the City of New York, the New York City Housing Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the state Office of General Services, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the Empire State Development Corporation, Battery Park City Authority, Hudson River Park Trust, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation and the United Nations Development Corporation.

Under the contract approved by NYPA, a natural gas-fueled power plant operated by FPL Energy in Sayerville, New Jersey, known as the Red Oak Plant, will provide 500 MW of generation capacity for the governmental customer electric load served by NYPA. H u d s o n Tr a n s m i s s i o n

Partners, a partner of FPL Energy in the NYPA-approved deal, will build a transmission line approximately seven miles long with a total capacity of 660 MW, from Bergen County to Con Edison's West 49th Street substation in Manhattan, including a four-mile section under the Hudson River.

In addition to the dedicated capacity, the 345-kilovolt (kv) line, expected to be completed by 2010, will be capable of delivering economical electricity from the PJM Inter-connection, which includes all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Timothy S. Carey, NYPA president and chief executive officer, stated: "Today's action by the Power Authority board is a significant milestone for reliable, economic and clean electricity service in New York City and for strengthening and diversifying its energy mix.

"This is consistent with the balanced approach that Governor [George] Pataki has long pursued for enhancing the state's electricity system and providing customers with more energy options in the competitive, deregulated marketplace. We're now looking forward to negotiating the longterm, energy-related agreements as authorized by our trustees earlier today."

Carey noted that besides the winning bid from Hudson Transmission/FPL Energy, NYPA received bids from a number of companies. That led to a comprehensive review process and enhancing fuel diversity, licensing considerations, the financial ability of submitting bidders and the likelihood of the bid commitments being met.

Over the years, public facilities in New York City have saved hundreds of millions of dollars a year on their electricity bills as NYPA customers. The Power Authority has met the electricity needs of these customers since 1976, and has also partnered with them on numerous energy efficiency projects that have lowered their annual electric bills by about $58 million, along with displacing some 1.1 million barrels of oil a year and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 477,000 tons a year.