N.Y. POWER AUTHORITY'S REVAMPED POWER VISTA LETS VISITORS OPERATE A POWER PLANT (SORT OF)

For Immediate Release: 06/02/16

Contact: 
Maura Balaban | Maura.Balaban@nypa.gov | (914) 390-8171

LEWISTON—It’s easy to take electricity for granted. But keeping the lights on is hard work.

However, for visitors at the New York Power Authority’s newly refurbished Power Vista, it’s also fun.

With its grand re-opening scheduled for June 9, the Vista features all-new, multimedia exhibits, including one that lets visitors operate a power plant.

A full-wall graphic of the Robert Moses Power Plant demonstrates how water is used to create energy, and then allows visitors to manipulate the turbines and pumps to respond to extreme weather and other unanticipated scenarios  Too little power and the screens go dark; too much and the grid will be too hot.

The exhibit gives visitors a taste of what operators contend with at the Niagara Power Project, which the Power Vista is attached to. The project, about 10 minutes north of Niagara Falls, is home to the Robert Moses Power Plant, New York’s largest.

“It wouldn’t surprise me to see future NYPA employees working at our sites whose career choice was inspired by a visit to the interactive control room,” said Gil C. Quiniones, NYPA president and CEO. “It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also educational. It shows visitors of all ages what it takes to keep the power flowing.”

Other exhibits allow visitors to:

• Use touchscreen monitors to stack layers of geologic strata to create conditions that result in a waterfall – and, in turn, ideal conditions for generating power
• Beat the clock and sort renewable and non-renewable energy sources into the correct buckets while learning where renewable energy sources come from.
• Manage New York’s power pool, controlling the demand for power across the state on hot and cold days. Players determine whether generators turn on or off and must ensure voltage levels are stable.
• Explore a myriad of energy-saving technologies and see how one person’s energy choices can make a big difference.
• Watch a spirited debate between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla about whether AC or DC transmission is the better technology.

The comprehensive redesign and reconstruction of the Power Vista also incorporates a Power Up simulator, featuring a high-energy virtual roller coaster ride as a raindrop plummets through the air, into the Niagara River and through the power plant as it becomes a unit of hydropower.

The exhibits include the latest hands-on interactive technologies, large touch screens, and internet connectivity. Using an RFID card, visitors can download their encounters at the exhibits and look back at their Power Vista stay on their personal computers and smart phones.

The upgrades at the Power Vista, which first opened in 1963, were designed and installed by Hadley Exhibits Inc. of Buffalo.

The Power Vista is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except some holidays. It is located at 5777 Lewiston Road (Route 104) in Lewiston and parking and admission are free. The Power Vista can also be reached via the new Discover Niagara Shuttle. For more information, contact NYPA’s Power Vista at 716-286-6661 or visit, www.nypa.gov/vc/niagara.htm.

About NYPA:

NYPA is the nation's largest state public power organization, through the operation of its 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. More than 70 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. For more information visithttp://www.nypa.gov/and follow us on Twitter @NYPAenergy, Facebook,Instagram, WordPress, and LinkedIn.