LIPA Seeking Wind Energy from Sources Off Long Island 

LIPA Seeking Wind Energy from Sources Off Long Island

Request for Proposals Issued for 25 Megawatt Hours Of Land-Based Wind Energy

Also Seeking Independent Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy Project Cost Economics

Uniondale, NY–May 22, 2007– The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) today announced that it has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking bids for supplying LIPA with 25 megawatt hours (MW/hr) of land-based wind energy, transmitted to Long Island later this year via the new Neptune cable, from generating facilities in the Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Maryland (PJM) power market.

LIPA is seeking a one-year contract with a wind energy supplier for the energy commodity itself. June 4 is the deadline for submitting an RFP response. Should a viable proposal emerge from the evaluation of the RFP responses, a proposed contract for purchasing the wind energy could go before the LIPA Board of Trustees for review.

LIPA also announced that it has retained PACE Global Energy to undertake an independent review of current wind energy market conditions both nation-wide and around the world, including offshore wind energy projects, to provide LIPA with updated data on the cost/benefits of large-scale wind energy undertakings including its Offshore Wind Project.

Among other things, the Pace study will compare estimated offshore wind energy projects to new conventional generation on Long Island; the implied “green premium” of wind energy; and relate the green premium to estimated Renewable Energy Credit prices and capacity and energy prices in the New York Market. To be completed in July, the study will also compare the out year costs on LIPA’s proposed wind project to conventional resources, including the cost of oil, gas and carbon avoidance costs. The study, which will cost approximately $50,000 to complete, will form the basis of evaluating LIPA’s proposed wind project.

“Long Island needs to move away from its heavy dependence on fossil fuel-generated electricity for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is to clean the air with lower power plant
emissions,” said LIPA CEO/President Richard M. Kessel. “With more and more land-based wind energy generators going on line in the PJM market and with the new Neptune cable coming on line this year it certainly makes sense to explore the possibility of importing wind-generated energy to Long Island from an off-island resource now.

“We also need to get an unbiased evaluation of wind energy economics as they exist now in the United States and around the world to help make an informed decision on the future economics of the proposed Long Island Offshore Wind Energy Project,” said Mr. Kessel. “Wide estimates are being tossed about and we need to make sure we have reliable, updated economic data so the LIPA Board can make a decision one way or the other on whether to go forward with the proposed Offshore project or not.

Go to: http://www.lipower.org/company/papers/rfp/windenergy.html to view or download the Wind Energy RFP.

LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric utility, owns the retail electric Transmission and Distribution System on Long Island and provides electric service to more than 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA is the 3rd largest municipal electric utility in the nation in terms of customers served and the 6th largest in terms of electricity delivered. In 2006, LIPA outperformed all other overhead electric utilities in New York State in all three major reliability categories. LIPA does not provide natural gas service or own any on-island generating assets. More information about LIPA can be found online at: http://www.lipower.org.

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