New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Kessel today announced the allocation of low-cost hydropower to three Western New York firms that will support their expanded operations in New York State and could result in the creation of over 150 jobs and private investments of approximately $390 million.
The NYPA Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved allocations to Norampac, a Division of Cascades Inc., a major Canadian manufacturer of containerboard products, and its partners to expand its operations in Niagara Falls; Klein Steel Services, Inc. of Tonawanda to support the company’s proposed expansion to manufacture super lightweight steel; and International Imaging Materials, Inc. of Amherst to support its future capacity needs for its printing and imaging products.
“NYPA’s Expansion Power and Replacement Power programs are the backbone to its economic development efforts in Western New York,” said Michael J. Townsend, chairman of the NYPA’s Board of Trustees. “These allocations demonstrate how NYPA resources generated in the region will stay in the region while underscoring the Power Authority’s commitment to supporting and attracting employers to the Niagara Frontier.”
“The Power Authority recognizes the significance of its low-cost hydropower in maintaining Western New York’s competitive edge and in the retention and attraction of businesses to the region,” Kessel said. “We will continue to aggressively pursue opportunities to support the creation of new jobs and retention of significant employers in the region, especially during this time of economic distress.”
Specifically, Norampac and its partners are approved to receive 10 megawatts (MW) of low-cost hydropower to construct a new state-of-the-art facility to make “green” containerboard. Norampac and its partners are considering an investment in a new facility adjacent to its current Niagara Falls facility. The project would result in the creation of over 100 jobs in Western New York. Norampac has four facilities in New York State, including a containerboard mill located in Niagara Falls and three plants that produce various corrugated products plants located in Lancaster, Maspeth and Schenectady. In total, the company employs just over 600 New Yorkers.
Klein Steel Services also was approved to receive an allocation of two MW in support of its plans to expand its business by manufacturing steel plating through a patented process at its existing facility. The company’s expansion would include the creation of 37 new jobs and would secure the company’s 210 existing jobs at its Tonawanda, Rochester and Syracuse locations. Its three-phase project would involve the company’s investment of $8.2 million for the installation of a manual plate feeding production line, automating that line and ultimately adding two more steel production lines.
Also, International Imaging Materials, Inc., a multinational company that develops, manufactures, and markets all types of printing, imaging, and marking products, is planning to invest $1.8 million to augment its customer base by expanding its specialized coating capability. In addition to its 2.5 MW current allocation at its Amherst facilities, International Imaging Materials will receive 700 kilowatts and create 10 new jobs.
The allocations for these three Western New York companies was made under NYPA’s Replacement Power (RP) Program, one of two programs that provide low-cost Niagara power for businesses in return for commitments to create jobs in Western New York. Replacement Power, together with another hydro-based program, Expansion Power (EP), account for about one-third of the Niagara project’s firm generating output. The power is supplied to businesses at rates typically 75 percent less than the average wholesale market prices in the state, making it a vital instrument for economic development, particularly for manufacturers and other energy intensive companies. More than 70 percent of the region’s manufacturing jobs benefit from the low-cost power.
The Western New York Advisory Group (WNYAG), consisting of the Power Authority, National Grid, Empire State Development Corp., the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, the Niagara County Department of Economic Development, and the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, supported the allocations to Norampac, Klein Steel Services and International Imaging Materials. The WYNAG was established in 2003 to help identify qualified companies for the available amounts of RP and EP—two large amounts of Niagara power that are reserved under New York State law for Western New York businesses.
Kessel noted that the NYPA Trustees last year approved allocations from the Niagara project to create or protect approximately 1,850 jobs at new or existing Western New York businesses in connection with capital investments by the companies of more than $640 million. Among the firms receiving recent RP or EP allocations were Yahoo!, for a new data center in Lockport; ENrG, for expanding production capacity at the firm’s Buffalo facility that manufactures fuel cells and other clean energy systems; Precision Electro Minerals Co. (PEMCO), a Niagara Falls manufacturer of fused silica for solar-panel grade silicon; and Steel Development, for a new steel-recycling manufacturing facility. More recently, hydropower allocations were approved for Continental Carbonic Products and Sweeney Steel Service Corporation for the creation of more than 60 jobs and the retention of 23 jobs.
