More than 3,500 Northern New York businesses and dairy farms will receive an approximately 9 percent discount on their electric bill for the next year through a new program. The savings will only go to St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Franklin counties and will be worth an average of $1,200 for each electric customer – with some of the largest electricity users possibly saving up to $250,000 over the period. The New York Power Authority (NYPA) developed the temporary power discount program in conjunction with the Governor’s Office, and could result in up to $10 million in total savings. The Governor made the announcement recently at Wood Farms in Cape Vincent. The program is made possible through an agreement between NYPA, National Grid and New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) that applies temporary monthly credits to eligible customers’ electric bills. The program is funded from the sale of unused St. Lawrence-FDR power into the State’s wholesale electricity market. The power, which has been freed up due to the temporary curtailing of operations by Alcoa at the Massena East plant, is from a block of 490 megawatts of electricity known as Preservation Power reserved under a 2005 State law for businesses in St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Franklin counties. Among Northern New York employers who will benefit from the Power Discount Program are Samaritan Medical Center, Chapin Watermatics and Stature Electric, all in Watertown; Corning and St. Lawrence University, both in Canton; Clarkson University in Potsdam; and Agri-Mark in Chateaugay.
For more info:
http://www.nypa.gov/
