Johnson City, NY, Feb 22, 2011 — Managing the power grid is a balancing act. As we flip on our coffee makers and turn on hairdryers, the grid is reacting, breathing harder, so to speak, to keep up with our demand. A facility in upstate New York is using battery power to make balancing the grid more efficient. Emma Jacobs has more for the Innovation Trail.  Go to full article

Rensselaer, NY, Oct 19, 2010 — A recent report from the agency that monitors New York's electric grid says the state can quintuple the amount of wind power pulsing through the system by 2018. But wind developers say the chances of hitting that mark are slim.

Wind farms are having trouble making profits for their owners. As the Innovation Trail's Zack Seward reports, more incentives may be needed if the state wants to meet its renewable energy goals.  Go to full article

Rensselaer, NY, Jun 22, 2010 — Municipal power advocates are in Albany making a final push for a new North Country authority. The bill would be the first real step toward two dozen towns in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties starting a not-for-profit electric company. David Sommerstein reports.  Go to full article

Canton, NY, Apr 20, 2010 — A bill that would allow two dozen towns in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties to form a municipal power company is getting closer to passage. And local leaders are taking a bus to Albany today to try to push it over the finish line. The bill to create the North Country Power Authority is the product of a decade of work by the Alliance for Municipal Power. The bill has already passed the Senate. After clearing a key committee in the Assembly yesterday, it's now one committee away from a floor vote. Supporters believe it will pass. David Sommerstein reports.  Go to full article

Cleveland, OH, Apr 01, 2010 — Remember that huge blackout in the summer of 2003? 45 million people in the Midwest and Northeast US, as well as 10 million in Canada, lost power. Government and utilities are spending billions of dollars on what's called a "Smart Grid," in part, so we don't have more large scale blackouts. But there's a lot more to the emerging system. Julie Grant has more.  Go to full article

Canton, NY, Mar 22, 2010 — More now on a developing story about 24 towns in the North Country hoping to band together and create a publicly owned electric company. State law allows a town or city to become its own power provider after parting with privately held utilities, like National Grid. Massena has done this.

But several towns can't join forces to form a communal electric company. This could soon change. The state Senate recently approved a bill clearing the way. The measure awaits passage by the Assembly and the Governor.

Legislative approval, if it comes, is only one hurdle for these towns. They also need to separate themselves from National Grid. Meaning the new, publicly owned power company would have to produce electricity and provide it via a network of their own transmission lines. Todd Moe has more.  Go to full article

Canton, NY, Mar 10, 2010 — Two-dozen towns in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties may soon be able to join forces and create a municipal electric company. This non-profit company could cut power bills by buying and distributing its own electricity, cutting out the utility middleman.

Right now, each town has the right to form its own electric company, similar to those in Massena, Lake Placid and Tupper Lake. But, it doesn't make sense for small, rural towns to go it alone. That's according to Bob Best. He's president of the Alliance for Municipal Power, or AMP. The group has worked for more than a decade to establish a municipal power company in rural St. Lawrence County.

He said that while each town could form its own electric company, state law doesn't allow towns to come together in a single municipal company. AMP has been asking state lawmakers to change that. The state Senate passed a bill clearing the way this week. It goes next to the Assembly, and if approved, on to the governor.

Municipal power companies have also faced stiff opposition from utilities, long legal battles to win control of the local transmission system, and penalties when they left the grid.
Best told Martha Foley this takeover, from National Grid, could be a friendly one, once the legislature and governor sign off.  Go to full article

Plattsburgh, NY, Mar 03, 2010 — Last week, a Canadian company called Transmission Developers Incorporated unveiled a $3.8-billion plan to lay high-power electric transmission lines under Lake Champlain and the Hudson River. The project would be part of the new "smart" electrical grid, designed to open the floodgates to new sources of green and renewable energy. The company has begun meeting with state regulators, environmentalists and historic preservation groups. As Brian Mann reports, the transmission line will be one of the most complicated power-grid projects in the country.  Go to full article

Feb 24, 2010 — State and federal officials will have to approve a new plan to run a high-voltage electricity transmission line 300 miles from Quebec to metro New York City through New York's Champlain Valley - mostly underwater.

Hydro-Quebec is a major supplier of electricity to the northeastern U.S. The design calls for the power line to be buried in the bottom sediment of Lake Champlain, the Hudson Canal, and the Hudson River.

The project is being developed by a Toronto company, which sees the underwater design is a way to avoid the environmental and political problems of constructing new powerline corridors through communities. Martha Foley has more.  Go to full article

Plattsburgh, NY, Feb 12, 2010 — State officials unveiled a new plan yesterday to run a high-voltage electricity transmission line from Canada down through New York's Champlain Valley. The "Champlain-Hudson Express Project" would carry power along the three-hundred mile long corridor to New York City.  Go to full article