RELEASE, IMMEDIATE: January
31, 2003
CONTACT: Tom Collins
1-(866)-NYSERDA, ext.3250.
Chautauqua Institution Installs Combined Heat and
Power System
NYSERDA Provides More Than $350,000
Albany, NY - Old meets new as the historic Chautauqua Institution
will soon use emerging microturbine technology to power its century-old
campus. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
(NYSERDA) will provide more than $350,000 to the Chautauqua Institution
for the installation of a combined heat and power (CHP) and district
energy system. The Chautauqua Institution will install three microturbines
and use the high-temperature exhaust from the microturbines to heat
and cool 10 campus buildings.
"By choosing to use CHP and district energy, the Chautauqua
Institution is making a valuable investment. This project will save
the Institution more than $100,000 in annual energy costs and serve
as a high-profile showcase of energy innovation in New York State,"
said William M. Flynn, president of NYSERDA. "Another added benefit
of this technology is the flexibility of its applications. This project
offers cheaper, more
reliable energy without hindering the historic integrity of the campus."
Chautauqua Institution President Scott McVay noted, "One of
the large issues facing every institution is energy-its choice, delivery
and use. We are grateful for NYSERDA's incentive of more than a third
of a million dollars to install the microturbines and heating/cooling
systems. In looking at the responsible management of this institution,
both financially and environmentally, this move represents a critical
step in our overall master plan."
The largest program of its kind nationwide, the New York Energy
$martSM Combined Heat and Power Program assists industrial,
institutional, multifamily, and commercial customers evaluate the
feasibility of on-site generation, providing funding for installation
and operation DG-CHP systems; monitoring of field performance and
evaluation of operational reliability and availability of the on-site
generation systems; and evaluation of environmental implications of
DG technology use. The program
is geared to provide the State's electric customers with greater efficiency,
and environmental and economic benefits through the use of clean and
efficient distributed generation (DG) technologies such as fuel cells
or conventional technologies installed in innovative CHP applications.
The Program's goal is to advance state-of-the-art
technologies that offer long-term potential to improve air quality
and energy efficiency.
The Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit, 750-acre educational
center beside Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State, where
approximately 7,500 persons are in residence on any day during a nine-week
season, and a total of over 142,000 attend scheduled public events.
The Institution was founded in 1874 as an educational experiment that
fostered out-of-school, vacation learning.
Funding for this project came 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. All New York Energy $martSM
programs are funded by a System Benefits Charge (SBC) paid by electric
distribution customers of participating utilities.
NYSERDA, a public benefit corporation established by law in 1975,
administers SBC funds and programs under an agreement with the Public
Service Commission. Additional information about these programs can
be obtained at www.nyserda.org or 1-866-NYSERDA.
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