Issue Briefs and Studies
Here is a list of reports prepared by members of New York AREA, and other organizations, about important electricity issues.


Energy Conservation Done Right:
How the Real Estate Board of New York Helps Keep The Lights on While Energy Solutions Elude the City and State

By: Arthur J. Kremer
Chairman to the Advisory Board New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance (New York AREA)

They say that everybody talks about energy conservation but no one does anything about it. But there is one exception.

For the past four years, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) has run a highly successful energy conservation program that should be copied throughout the State and country. REBNY, which represents major office and residential property owners and builders, as well as other Manhattan real-estate oriented professionals, quickly notifies program participants that there is a current or pending electrical emergency and that conservation measures should be taken.

In 2003 alone, the program saved New York City 160 megawatts of electricity, making it far and away the most effective demand reduction program. More than 300 million square feet of New York real estate are involved in the program.

Building owners and managers can choose to take certain steps under the program. These include:

  • Reducing elevator service by 25-30 percent,

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  • Dimming main floor lobby lighting,

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  • Raising the set point on chilled water by a few degrees, and

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  • Shutting down non-critical equipment, such as restroom fans

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The owners and managers also advise tenants of steps they can take such as:

  • Turning off perimeter lighting,

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  • Turning off lights and systems that are not needed, especially in unused offices and conference rooms; and

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  • Using the Energy Star power management feature so unused computers go to "sleep."

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"The program works because it is voluntary," says Marolyn Davenport, Senior Vice President, Management Services and Government Affairs for REBNY. "Our members, as well as their clients, realize conservation makes good business sense. They also want to help the greater New York community avoid potential brownouts and blackouts," says Davenport.

The REBNY program was introduced four years ago when the New York Independent System Operator, the non-profit entity that operates the State's electrical grid, warned that the City and downstate area faced dangerously low-levels of energy, especially to meet peak summer needs. Today, the REBNY emergency program continues.

New York AREA urges other business groups in New York City and throughout the state to adopt similar programs. Please contact Ms. Davenport (212-616-5233) about how to get this up and running.

Meanwhile, the City needs additional energy more than ever. The economic recovery and re-building of downtown will only increase demand to unprecedented levels. In January, Mayor Bloomberg's Energy Task Force found that the City needs a net increase of 2,600 megawatts (or one and one-third Hoover Dams) in new capacity by 2008.

The Mayor's report warned, "as the regional blackout of 2003 pointedly reminded us, electricity systems can also be subject to unplanned interruptions. The City has adequate energy resources for its electricity needs today, but the margins necessary for reliability are extremely thin. And the growth of demand for electricity in the City continues to be strong, even in the face of a weakened economy."

Projects that were once expected to benefit the City are now questionable at best. This includes the TransGas facility in Brooklyn, which state officials are not expected to approve. A pipeline from Albany that was to bring 2,000 megawatts of electricity downstate is in trouble. Rockland County is also fighting it. Furthermore, the facility is facing financing difficulties and construction has not even started.

To stay the world's business capital, New York needs a world-class electricity network. That means, first and foremost, that we need to preserve the power, especially the clean, environmentally friendly power that we have, and increase it.

We also need to the Governor and Legislature to re-enact the power plant siting law, Article X of the Public Service Law which allows new plants to be permitted. This matter must be addressed immediately and so that New York does not have the self-destructive public policies on electricity that California had a few years ago.

It has been more than 18 months since the old Article X expired. Having lost 18 months, we will be playing "catch-up" for some time, as the absence of a statute has led to no new proposals, putting off groundbreaking on these yet to be proposed projects until 2006 at the earliest.

We also need to keep the Indian Point nuclear energy center up and running in Buchanan (Westchester County), New York. Indian Point provides 20 to 30 percent of the electricity used in New York City and downstate, depending on time of year, usage levels, and other factors. Its emission free power is also quite important to New York now as the Environmental Protection Agency is toughening ozone levels. For more than 30 years Indian Point has been a vital part of New York's energy equation.

A world-class city can and should come together to cut back on electricity usage periodically. But it should not head into the direction of this becoming a routine - of dimmed lobbies and smelly rest rooms becoming the norm. Indeed the blackout, with $1 billion of economic activity lost in just over one-day, was far more than an inconvenience.

Let's come together to solve these problems. Let's also applaud REBNY for what it is doing at this important and delicate time for electricity reliability.

About the Author and New York AREA: — Arthur J. Kremer is Chairman to the Advisory Board of New York AREA. He is also the former Chairman of the New York State Assembly's Ways & Means Committee and helped to author a previous version of the Article X Siting Law.

Founded in November 2003, New York AREA is a diverse group of business, labor, and community leaders committed to finding clean, low-cost and reliable electricity solutions that foster prosperity for all. New York AREA's mission is to educate policy makers, the media, businesses, and the general public about why electricity is imperative for economic growth as well as the optimal solutions to preserve and expand New York's electricity network.