Cuomo signs new “power for jobs”

Governor Cuomo signed the new, permanent version of the popular Power for Jobs program into law today.

From the Associated Press:

Cuomo signed the bill at Ascension Industries in North Tonawanda, north of Buffalo, on Thursday.

Recharge New York gives businesses like Ascension access to low-cost power, with the idea that they’ll use the savings to retain and create jobs. Unlike Power for Jobs, it allows businesses to enter into seven-year contracts, rather than for a single year. Companies are awarded contracts based on capital investment commitments, job retention and creation and other factors.

Dozens of businesses in the North  Country use the program.

State Senator Patty Ritchie took some credit for Recharge NY’s passage as a co-sponsor and member of the Senate Energy Committee.  She called Recharge NY “a dramatic improvement” over Power For Jobs.

The real battle was in the Assembly, where chamber leaders had been reluctant to support the legislation last session.

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4 Comments on “Cuomo signs new “power for jobs””

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  1. tootightmike says:

    The aluminum companies have had this sweetheart deal for decades…how stable and reliable have those jobs been?? This seems like the rich feeding the rich to me.
    Perhaps it would be better for the economy to reduce the rates that regular working folks pay for power. We’d have more money to spend locally.
    Or maybe the largess of the power companies should be given directly to the regional schools in the form of free power…this might lower everybody’s taxes, and improve education and the overall quality of life here.
    We should share the wealth with everyone, not just the dozen or so.

  2. Walker says:

    So who ultimately pays for the power? Does the state send our tax dollars to the power companies, or do they just recoup the costs by raising our rates? Either way, I’d be willing to bet that some of our money ends up in the CEO’s pocket! Good ole reverse Robin Hood!

  3. Bret4207 says:

    We need jobs, actually we need career opportunities. If low cost power to industry can help in that regard then it should be considered. I’m no fan of NYPA and the way they do things though. It seems that common sense would allow for lower rates in the areas most affected by the power generation.

    Just dreaming I suppose.

  4. If Clapton is God, Warren Haynes is Jesus says:

    I recommend reading the book “Perfect Power” by Robert Galvin, Kurt Yeager, and Jay Stuller. A good read about our outdated electrical grid, the monopolized utilities who control it, and the exorbitant costs they pass along to the tax payers and customers who pay for the infrastructure. It also includes suggestions on how we change a system which is growing more and more unreliable, antiquated, and expensive.

    And about this “Power for Jobs” program. Yes, it’s great that businesses get some of this cheap power and retain/add jobs as a result. But why, exactly, doesn’t most of upstate, NY have far cheaper power given the vast amount of it that’s generated right here? We have massive amounts of hydroelectric capacity, nuclear, co-generation, and now large wind farms, but yet we still pay very high electrical rates. The microgrid revolution suggested in the above book could change all this and not only provide more reliable and cheaper power, but it could potentially be another revenue stream for residential and commercial power customers. Like in the case of any monopoly, we just need to break the backs of those that have entrenched themselves in controlling a commodity that everyone needs.

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