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| ANNOUNCING... |
NYCEDC/HPD Broadband Conference
The New York City Economic Development Corporation
(NYCEDC) and the Department of Housing Preservation
and Development will be hosting a morning conference
on March 15, 2006 to educate developers of affordable
housing on broadband options. Conference speakers
will include housing developers that have already
incorporated broadband in their housing stock
and can explain its value to their tenants. Speakers
will also include a variety of broadband providers
that can explain how the technology works and
can be offered at an affordable price point. Developers
of affordable housing are invited to attend and
should contact Deborah Bershad at 212-863-7977. |
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Two NYC Agencies Release Broadband RFPs
Two New York City agencies have released Requests
for Proposals (RFPs) to expand telecommunications
services to New York City residents. The New York
City Housing Authority (NYCHA) announced the release
of an RFP for voice, video, and/or data services
for residents in selected properties via NYCHA's
recently-installed advanced telecommunications
cabling (i.e., shielded copper, coax and fiber
optic) infrastructure. This advanced cabling infrastructure
has been installed in 222 NYCHA buildings, or
11 percent of NYCHA's apartment units. Proposals
are due to NYCHA by March 3, 2006. Questions regarding
the RFP should be addressed to Jeffrey Jung at
jeffrey.jung@nycha.nyc.gov.
Additionally, the City Parks and Recreation Department
is seeking proposals to provide wireless broadband
Internet access (WiFi or a similar technology)
throughout six parks in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Parks covered by this RFP are Fort Greene Park,
Columbus Park, Carroll Park, Cobble Hill Park,
and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and in Manhattan
the Hammarskjold Plaza. (The Parks Department
previously awarded a franchise in 2003 to provide
WiFi service at various sites in Central Park,
Prospect Park, and other parks in the five boroughs.)
Proposals for developing, operating and maintaining
the wireless network in the six designated parks
are due on March 23, 2006. Questions regarding
the RFP should be addressed to Slater Gray at
(212) 360-3434 or slater.gray@parks.nyc.gov.
To download the RFP, click
here.
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Business Express Website to be Developed
On February 7, 2006, Mayor Bloomberg and Small
Business Services Commissioner Walsh announced
the development of a "Business Express" website,
which will provide a one-stop shop for small businesses'
interactions with City agencies. The website will
allow entrepreneurs and small business owners
to go to one site to get advice and access necessary
City incentives, permits, and licenses from multiple
agencies.
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| IN
THE NEWS... |
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New York Power Authority Places New,
Clean Plant into Service
On December 31st of last year the
New York Power Authority (NYPA) placed a large-scale,
500-megawatt power plant into commercial service
in Astoria, Queens. The plant is far more efficient
and much cleaner-burning than are older power
plants. Its operation will make it possible to
reduce the use of older plants in the City, especially
during the critical summer season when electricity
demand peaks due to air conditioning loads. The
plant can also run on either natural gas or low-sulfur
fuel oil as a back-up, which provides greater
flexibility in the event of gas availability concerns.
The new facility is located on a
47-acre site shared by another NYPA generating
facility, and according to NYPA is the first new
large power plant built in New York City in decades.
It incorporates a combined-cycle technology for
capturing heat that would otherwise be lost in
electricity production. Natural gas powers two
turbine-generators to produce power; the resulting
hot gases are then harnessed to create steam to
drive another turbine-generator.
The new plant will help NYPA to
meet the electricity requirements of its large
government customers in New York City, including
schools, hospitals, municipal buildings, the subways
and commuter trains.
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Alternative
Energy Featured in Annual Federal and State Addresses
A number of energy initiatives related to renewable
energy and alternative fuels were announced by
President George W. Bush in the 2006 State of
the Union address and by Governor George Pataki
in his 2006 State of the State address. To some
degree, the announced measures on the Federal
and State levels are complementary, or at least
offer the prospect of both federal and State incentives
for the same or related projects in alternative
energy technologies.
During his State of the Union address on January
31st, President Bush mentioned the need to advance
research in and promote the use of clean energy
and alternative fuels to "change how we power
our homes and offices" and change "how we power
our automobiles." His two minute and 15 second
discussion of energy was peppered with bold statements,
including "America is addicted to oil" and the
goal to "replace more than 75 percent of our oil
imports from the Middle East by 2025," however
it is still unclear whether policy and budget
decisions towards alternative energy will be equally
as bold. The President did announce the new Advanced
Energy Initiative, which calls for a 22 percent
funding increase for clean energy research through
the Department of Energy (DOE) to focus on clean
coal plants, solar and wind technologies, and
nuclear plants. In terms of transportation, the
President called for research in better batteries
for hybrid and electric cars, hydrogen fuel, and
additional research in cutting-edge methods of
producing ethanol from wood chips and stalks.
While the proposed President’s proposed Fiscal Year 2007 budget does includes a
funding increase for renewable programs over FY
2006 levels, energy efficiency core funding fell by over
$100 million, or about 18%. According to the Alliance
to Save Energy, the administration is proposing
cuts in key energy-efficiency programs such as
building codes, the Environmental Protection Agency
Energy Star program, and weatherization programs.
On January 4th, Governor Pataki set out a number
of his energy-related plans for legislative enactment
or regulatory action during the State of the State
address. These include Empire Zone benefits, including
exemption from sales, wage and property taxes,
and also various available capital credits, for
renewable energy providers located in any area
of the State, even if not a designated Empire
Zone. In order to promote the use of alternative
fuel for vehicles, Pataki called for fuels such
as bio-diesel (and ultimately hydrogen) to be
made available at selected service stations in
New York State, starting with the Thruway Authority
stations. These fuels are to be State tax-free,
which could confer a significant relative advantage,
as the New York State gasoline tax, at more than
$0.40 per gallon, ranks among the highest in the
country. Pataki also mentioned a State tax credit
of $2000 for the purchase of hybrid gas-electric
automobiles. To promote the production of alternative
energy sources, Pataki called for unspecified
benefits for generators of ethanol from various
agricultural products and for State financing
assistance be provided for clean coal technology
plants.
The entire State of the Union 2006 can be accessed
at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2006/index.html
The entire New York State of the State 2006 can
be accessed at:
http://www.ny.gov/governor/2006_sos/sosaddress_text.html
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Two Important Distributed Resource Decisions at
the PSC
At their December session, the New York Public
Service Commission issued its final Order (Case
05-M-0090) extending the State's System Benefits
Charge (SBC) program for another five years. The
SBC program, which is administered by the New
York State Energy Research and Development Authority
(NYSERDA), was set to expire on June 30, 2006.
The Order extends the program through June 30,
2011, and makes several key program enhancements
consistent with comments filed by the City:
- Increased total annual statewide funding
from $150 to $175 million
- Increased annual statewide funding for low-income
programs by $11 million
- Increased program focus on peak electric
load reduction
Since its creation in 1998, NYSERDA's SBC program
has served as the State's primary source of incentives
for electric distributed resources (such as energy
efficiency, clean onsite generation, residential
programs, green buildings, and demand response).
For the last five years, the program has collected
$150 million annually from electric customers
with roughly 45 percent being distributed to projects
in the Con Edison electric territory, which includes
New York City and Westchester. The 2004 Mayor's
Energy Policy Task Force report identified the
SBC programs as one of the most important mechanisms
for encouraging distributed resources.
At their February session, the Commission approved
part of a second key program for distributed resources,
the Con Edison Demand-side Management and Clean
Onsite Generation program. This program was created
in April 2005 as part of the Con Edison electric
rate settlement (Case 04-E-0572) and is designed
to reduce peak demand in the Con Edison territory
by 675 MW over the three years of the rate plan
through the investment of up to $224 million in
demand-side measures and clean onsite generation.
Half of the funds will be administered by NYSERDA
and distributed throughout the Con Edison electric
territory. The other half will be administered
by Con Edison and will be used to competitively
procure demand reductions in targeted electric
grid networks in order to defer planned distribution
system upgrades. The Commission's decision at
its February session did not include clean onsite
generation programs, which are expected to be
approved at the March session. The City and other
Energy Task Force members worked closely with
Con Edison, NYSERDA and the Commission in designing
these programs and will continue to support their
implementation in order to successfully achieve
the program's goals.
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Con Edison Steam Business Development Plan Approved
The New York Public Service Commission approved
the Con Edison Steam Business Development Plan
at its December session. The Plan was submitted
to the Commission by the Steam Business Development
Task Force, which had been created in the most
recent steam rate settlement (Case 03-S-1672)
approved in September 2004. The Task Force includes
15 individuals from local and state government,
public interest, business, and consumer and supplier
groups, and is chaired by NYCEDC.
As noted in the Mayor's Energy Policy Task Force
report, the steam system makes a valuable contribution
to the overall New York City energy portfolio.
It serves approximately 1,800 customers with steam
for space heating and hot water and provides about
363 of those customers with steam for cooling,
which reduces the need for summer electricity
capacity by about 375 MW. Additionally, for some
of New York City's landmark buildings, the possibility
of installing gas boilers for heating simply does
not exist because of space constraints and other
issues. The long-term viability and strength of
the steam system is therefore a high priority
for the City.
The Plan contains a comprehensive examination
of the status of Con Edison's steam business development
activities, market conditions, and the needs of
current and potential steam customers. The Plan
also contains 19 recommendations for Con Edison.
While Con Edison has already begun to implement
many of the recommendations, most of the remaining
ones will be incorporated into the current steam
rate proceeding, which began on November 2, 2005,
with Con Edison's initial rate plan filing with
the Commission. The full text of the Plan may
be accessed here.
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City to Purchase Wind Energy
The New York Power Authority (NYPA), on behalf
of the City of New York, the City College of New
York (CUNY), and the New York City Housing Authority
(NYCHA) plans to source contracts for a combined
26.5-megawatts of wind energy from Horizon Wind.
The contracts will run from February 1, 2008,
until December 31, 2017. NYPA is also sourcing
contracts for the Metropolitan Transit Authority
(MTA).
NYPA's commitment to purchase the renewable energy
attributes (or "green tags") associated with wind
energy will support the development of Phase II
of the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County,
New York. The first phase of construction of 198
megawatts of capacity to be purchased by the New
York Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
as part of New York's Renewable Portfolio Standard
(RPS) began in 2005. Phase II, consisting of 107
megawatts of capacity, will begin in 2006. Since
the City pays CUNY's energy bills, the City's
combined purchase through NYPA will likely approximate
52,600 green tags annually from its 20-megawatt
Maple Ridge commitment. In addition, NYCHA and
the MTA will likely purchase 17,100 and 18,400
green tags each year, respectively. Each green
tag represents 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy
produced from a qualifying renewable energy source.
The main benefit associated with obtaining green
tags is that they provide assurance that a renewable
resource has displaced electric generation from
a conventional resource that would otherwise have
used fuel oil, natural gas, or coal to produce
the displaced electricity.
By the end of 2006, the City will receive close
to six percent of its electricity load from renewable
resources including small hydro, photovoltaics
and biogas. Compared to current U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) Green Power Partnership
rankings, the future NYPA wind purchases on behalf
of the City, in addition to the existing renewable
resources, would place the City of New York as
the top municipal renewable energy purchaser and
third overall behind the U.S. Air Force and Whole
Foods.
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Con Edison Energy Infrastructure Master Plan for
Hudson Yards and Lower Manhattan
On January 20th, Con Edison, consistent with
the recommendations of the NYC Energy Policy Task
Force and in accordance with the terms of the
Con Edison gas and steam rate settlement, approved
by the Public Service Commission (PSC) in Fall
2004, completed Phase I of its Energy Infrastructure
Master Plan (EIMP). The settlement included a
commitment by Con Edison to prepare an EIMP for
designated redevelopment areas within its territory.
Phase I of the EIMP covered the Hudson Yards redevelopment
area as well as Battery Park City and the World
Trade Center redevelopment area in Lower Manhattan.
Phase II, currently underway, includes Greenpoint/Williamsburg
and Downtown Brooklyn, and future phases may occur
as necessary.
The EIMP is intended to help coordinate Con Edison's
and the City's long-range planning through the
next twenty years. Specifically, the EIMP examines
the major energy service options available in
each major redevelopment area (i.e. electric,
gas, and steam, where applicable), considers demand-side
management as a means to reduce major service
infrastructure requirements, and identifies major
costs and associated energy infrastructure considerations,
such as environmental impacts, right-of-ways,
land or space requirements, zoning and permitting
needs, and other related issues.
Con Edison's findings in Phase I of the EIMP
are similar to those in the FEIS for Hudson Yards.
Both identify the need for additional capacity
at the nearby Murray Hill area substation, a new
west side switching station, two new area substations,
associated feeders and distribution infrastructure,
and extension of gas mains and installation/upgrade
of gas regulating stations. The EIMP analysis
also found that demand-side management, such as
energy efficiency, green building, peak load management,
and clean on-site generation, has the potential
to defer, but not eliminate, the need for new
area substations and substation reinforcements.
For Lower Manhattan, Con Edison found that much
of the infrastructure that is needed to serve
the defined redevelopment area was replaced or
installed as part of the restoration and rebuilding
efforts since 9/11. Therefore, new infrastructure
needs are limited to one transformer at an existing
area substation, extension of gas mains, and minimal
changes to the steam system.
To download Phase I of Con Edison's Energy Infrastructure
Master Plan, click here
here.
More information on the
Hudson Yards rezoning is available at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/hyards/hymain.shtml
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| TECHNOLOGY
CORNER... |
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Broadband over Power Line (BPL)
This quarter's Technology Corner
focuses on an emerging technology relating to
both energy and telecommunications networks: broadband
over power line (or BPL). BPL has been hailed
as a promising third wire to the home, using the
existing power grid to deliver high-speed Internet
service to the electrical outlet with the addition
of equipment on the power grid itself and a plug-in
modem in the home. BPL may become more commonplace
as states take steps to clarify regulations relating
to the service, and as standards-setting bodies
finalize standards for BPL products. Just this
month, New York State's Public Service Commission
initiated a proceeding to examine technical and
regulatory issues related to the deployment of
BPL.
Two types of BPL are emerging: "access
BPL" and "in-house BPL." Access BPL uses the power
grid to carry Internet service to the home, allowing
utilities to electronically read meters and remotely
monitor and control the grid. Current Communications
Group, for example, is using this model in partnership
with Cinergy Corp. to provide service to approximately
50,000 homes in Cincinnati, and has just announced
a partnership with TXU Electric Delivery to provide
broadband service over power lines to more than
two million customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth
area. In the New York region, Con Edison has piloted
BPL on its grid in Briarcliff Manor in Westchester
County and also in a steam tunnel under First
Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
In New York City, companies are
beginning to pilot and deploy in-house BPL, which
involves delivery of high-speed Internet service
over the wires inside the building but uses a
T-1 line, wireless broadband, or other high-speed
connection to deliver the signal to the building.
In-house BPL has myriad applications that can
benefit multi-dwelling units, including monitoring
electricity use, connecting to video surveillance
cameras, and high-speed Internet access from all
electrical outlets. Con Ed and Ambient are piloting
this model on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Trump
has also begun installing BPL (using TelkoNet
and Microwave Satellite Technologies) in all its
multi-tenant properties in the city.
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