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CNN Live Sunday

New York State Trying to Avoid California-Style Power Problems

Aired April 08, 2001 - 17:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: In that report, you head mentions that this could soon be a national problem. Let's turn now to CNN's Brian Palmer, who's reporting what power-hungry New York state is doing to try to avoid being the next state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With California's electricity woes on their minds, New York City's public officials say they need more power, and they need it now.

MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI, NEW YORK CITY: The reality is, if we don't increase significantly the amount of power that we generate in the city of New York, we will have happen to us what is going on in California, and we will have happen to us what happened to us two years ago in Washington Heights.

PALMER: New York City's last serious power crunch.

JOE LEARY, NEW YORK POWER AUTHORITY: Essentially, energy use has steadily increased over the past few years while energy generation has remained stagnant. So, eventually, demand will outstrip supply.

PALMER: To begin to meet rising electricity demand in the New York City area, the power authority is installing 11 gas-fired generators at six sites in the city and one on Long Island. Some energy experts say building new plants locally is essential because New York City has so few transmission lines pumping in electricity from outside the city.

ROGER ANDERSON, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Those power plants are needed, and as I said, the confusion is that they're needed for a different than you hear most of the yelling about. The reason they're needed is because of the choke in the transmission lines.

PALMER: Come June, officials say the 44-megawatt generators, smaller than typical power plants, will go online. Critics of the plants say New York's Power Authority is overstating the city's energy needs, and ignoring environmental and other community concerns.

EDDIE BATTISTA, LAWYERS FOR PUBLIC INTEREST: What are we talking about here? Is it about profits or is it about prices or is it about energy supply, and we believe that it's a mix of the three, so let's have an open, transparent process to rein in the demand issues in New York while at the same time finding an environmentally sound way to meet them.

PALMER: But as community groups keep fighting the power plants, construction continues at all seven sites.

Brian Palmer, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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