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Buffalo News

Companies urged to apply for low-cost hydropower

By Thomas J. Prohaska - NEWS NIAGARA BUREAU
Updated: 03/19/07 6:41 AM

 WHEATFIELD — Niagara County economic development officials are urging local companies to apply for low-cost electricity allocations, even if they’re not sure they’ll need the power.

The New York Power Authority’s Power for Jobs program is to expire June 30 unless it is reauthorized, which is what county leaders are hoping will happen. In order to encourage its extension, officials of the county’s Center for Economic Development told a County Legislature committee last week that they are looking for new applicants.

“We’re beating the streets in a big way,” said Michael A. Casale, the county’s deputy commissioner for business development. “If a company’s business plans call for expansion and they think they’ll get the shovel in the ground by June 2008, we’d love to help them apply for hydropower.”

Casale told the Economic Development Committee that if an applicant receives power and finds it can’t meet the one-year deadline for carrying out a project, no harm is done because the electricity would simply be returned to the state’s available pool.

“There’s no strings attached. They have one year to use the power,” Casale said. He added that there is no cost to apply.

“That’s not to say we’re looking for bogus applications. We want solid projects,” Casale added.

At present, there are 19 companies and nonprofit organizations in Niagara County that receive low-cost electricity through Power for Jobs. Those companies and organizations employ a total of 3,365 people, according to a resolution in support of the program, which the Legislature is expected to approve Tuesday.

Power for Jobs cuts a recipient’s electric bills by 10 percent up to 25 percent.

Christina P. Orsi, a business development representative for the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, said companies that receive power allocations have a year to start construction and three years to complete their projects.

Thomas A. Kucharski, BNE president, said the power is available within a 30-mile radius of the Niagara Power Project in Lewiston.

Casale said, “It’s the only Power Authority tool for job retention.”

As such, Power for Jobs is separate from the much-discussed 70 megawatts of “loose juice” available for the Power Authority’s replacement power program. Formerly reserved for projects within 30 miles of the Power Project, that power is now available statewide, although efforts are being made to limit it to this region.

Casale said the county and the BNE each have about half a dozen leads for possible applicants for that power.