NYPA Seeks Proposals For Energy Supplies For Village Of Solvay Electric Department

White Plains, NY - New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Kessel recently announced the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for clean, economical power to help meet the electricity requirements of the Village of Solvay Electric Department, a municipal electric system, in Onondaga County, whose full power needs are met by the Power Authority.

Under the RFP, NYPA is seeking up to 35 megawatts (mw) of power, which would be in addition to the low-cost hydropower the Solvay Electric Department receives from the Power Authority's Niagara Power Project. The additional, or incremental, power can come from existing or new facilities. Coal-burning facilities will not be eligible for consideration, in light of New York State's clean energy goals.

"Solvay is one of our largest community-owned electric customers, and one of 12 municipal electric and rural cooperative systems in the state that receives all of its electricity from the Power Authority," Kessel said. "We have a long, successful partnership with Solvay over more than half a century in providing significant savings to the village's residents and businesses from our low-cost power and value-added services such as promoting energy efficiency and introducing clean electric-drive vehicles. The Request for Proposals that we've just issued builds on this partnership, as we look forward to adding to the price stability that the village has long enjoyed from Niagara hydropower."

The hydroelectric project, near Niagara Falls, serves New York State's 51 municipal electric systems and rural cooperatives under contracts that run through September 2025. The power from the project, among the lowest-cost electricity in the country, also benefits Western New York businesses, supporting tens of thousands of jobs, with other beneficiaries including the residential customers of upstate investor-owned utilities.

The Power Authority currently purchases the incremental power for Solvay in the day-ahead market, a wholesale electricity market administered by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), in which electricity is auctioned and scheduled one day prior to use.

The goal of the RFP is to secure energy products for up to 20 years, to commence between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2013, helping to reduce the price uncertainty for the incremental portion of the village's power needs. Suppliers may bid for any or all of the requested incremental energy in amounts of at least 5 mw, up to the full 35 mw.

Generating facilities providing the power may be directly connected to a transmission bus at the Bridge Street substation in Solvay, or the power may be delivered to any point of interconnection within the New York Control Area. This is the statewide area under the electrical control of the NYISO.

For more information, the RFP can be downloaded from the NYPA Web site at http://www.nypa.gov/doingbusiness/powerpurchase/powerpurchase.htm

Bidders have until Oct. 29 to respond to the request, with proposals to be addressed to Jordan Brandeis, NYPA vice president, Power Resource Planning and Acquisition, at 123 Main St., White Plains, N.Y. 10601. (Bidders must also submit an electronic copy, either by CD-ROM or by e-mail to Jordan.Brandeis@NYPA.gov)

Any supply agreements resulting from the RFP will be subject to the approval of the NYPA Board of Trustees.

SOURCE: NYPA