New York power prices jump 12 per cent

New York’s power costs — long among the nation’s highest — have risen at a pace nearly twice the national average in the past year, according to a state Business Council study.

The cost of electricity in the state grew by about 12 percent from March 2006 to March 2007, the councilÂ’s Public Policy Institute reported.

New York manufacturers paid the 12th highest rates in the country, while New York residential rates are now 62 percent above the national average, according to the report.

“It’s because of coal,” said council spokesman Matthew Maguire.

“New York state, compared to the nation, relies very heavily on natural gas for generation and relatively little on coal,” Maguire said. “In recent years the price of coal has been relatively stable and the price of natural gas has been going up.”

The report comes as Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the state Legislature seek to reduce energy costs for businesses and to create a fast-track approval system for new power plants to increase supply.

A major sticking point, however, remains coal. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno is pushing for the use of what he calls “clean coal,” a reference to new technology that results in less polluting emissions than traditional coal-burning power plants.

But Spitzer isnÂ’t sold on the newer technology, especially as he works to cut the emissions that contribute to global warming. He is pushing technology cleaner than even new coal processes.

NRG Energy has building a new clean coal power plant at the existing coal-fired Huntley Station in the Town of Tonawanda, but the company still is working on ways to make the project economically viable. The Erie County Industrial Development Agency approved tax breaks for the project earlier in July.

Related News

Battery-electric buses hit the roads in Metro Vancouver

VANCOUVER - TransLink's first battery-electric buses are taking to the roads in Metro Vancouver as part of a pilot project to reduce emissions.

The first four zero-emission buses picked up commuters in Vancouver, Burnaby and  New Westminster on Wednesday. Six more are expected to be brought in.

"With so many people taking transit in Vancouver today, electric buses will make a real difference," said Merran Smith, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, a think tank at Simon Fraser University, in a release.

According to TransLink, each bus is expected to reduce 100 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and save $40,000 in fuel costs…

READ MORE
gov lamont

CT leads New England charge to overhaul electricity market structure

READ MORE

sycamore solar power

Sycamore Energy taking Manitoba Hydro to court, alleging it 'badly mismanaged' Solar Energy Program

READ MORE

alberta-last-coal-plant-closes-embracing-clean-energy

Alberta's Last Coal Plant Closes, Embracing Clean Energy

READ MORE

ieso control room

Ontario's electricity operator kept quiet about phantom demand that cost customers millions

READ MORE