Senator Wright, NYSERDA Announce
Energy Aid to Watertown Schools
RELEASE: IMMEDIATE, October 16, 2001
CONTACT: Tom Collins, NYSERDA
(518) 862-1090, ext.3250.
Watertown, NY – Touring the Indian River Central School District,
Senator Wright and representatives from the New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced more than $230,000
in assistance to make the Indian River Central School District and
Watertown City Schools more energy efficient.
Under its New York Energy $martSM program, NYSERDA is providing $160,000
to the Indian River Central School District to install a geothermal
heat pump system. Geothermal heat pump technology is a modern alternative
energy source that will reduce energy costs while also protecting
the environment. They use the constant temperature of the Earth to
heat or cool a building. Water filled pipes are inserted into the
ground, heating or cooling the water to the temperature of the Earth.
A series of pumps force the water through the piping "loop"
so that it can be brought into a building's heating and cooling system
to condition the indoor air. During the summer months, excess heat
from the building is "shed" into the ground through the
system for cooling, while during the winter heat is drawn from the
ground for heating purposes.
"New York State is committed to helping school districts
identify energy saving opportunities as well as providing financial
assistance to offset the cost of making those improvements,"
said Senator James W. Wright, Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.
"NYSERDA's support of the geothermal project at Indian River
Schools and their anticipated support of energy efficiency improvements
at the Watertown City Schools are tremendous examples of how school
districts can benefit from the growing opportunities for energy
efficiency that deregulation is providing."
Indian River Central School District may also be eligible for an additional
$40,000 for other custom efficiency measures. NYSERDA is currently
evaluating the installation of interior and exterior lighting, occupancy
sensors, unitary HVAC equipment, transformer and variable speed drives
for additional funding.
"Our New York Energy $mart program is providing financial
assistance to help school districts, businesses and residents throughout
the State save energy and lower their costs," said NYSERDA
President William M. Flynn. "This program is part of Governor
Pataki's approach to deregulating the electric utilities in a way
that ensures energy efficiency and renewable energy programs are
sustained to provide economic development, environmental protection,
and reduced energy costs to all New Yorkers."
NYSERDA also expects to provide the Watertown City School District
with up to $70,000 for a comprehensive energy audit and to install
web-advanced electric metering equipment. With this technology, Watertown
City School District will be able to determine when and where energy
is being used, which is essential to reduce energy consumption and
identify peak demand periods.
The latest in energy management technology, web-enabled advanced
monitoring allows for energy profiling, billing, and rate analysis.
Customers are able to analyze the information from the meters by logging
into an assigned website on the Internet.
Strategically placed meters throughout a facility can help building
managers to compare daily energy use. The information is then used
to assess the energy demand on a weekly and monthly basis with the
expectations that the data will then be used to help decrease future
energy consumption.
Funding for these projects comes from NYSERDA's New York Energy $martSM program, which is designed to lower electricity costs by encouraging
energy efficiency as the State's electric utilities move to competition.
The programs are available to all electric distribution customers
(residential, commercial, institutional and industrial) of Central
Hudson, Con Edison, NYSEG, Niagara Mohawk, Orange and Rockland, and
Rochester Gas and Electric.
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