Press Release
N.Y. POWER AUTHORITY RECEIVES STATE APPROVALS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH VERIZON CELL TOWER AGREEMENT
For Immediate Release: 06/27/16
Contact:
Maura Balaban | Maura.Balaban@nypa.gov | (914) 390-8171
WHITE PLAINS—The New York Power Authority announced today it has received final approval from the New York State Office of the Comptroller for plans to improve cellular communications in the Schoharie Valley.
The approval enables Verizon to install communications equipment on three towers along the Route 30 corridor, boosting cellphone coverage between the towns of Middleburgh and Grand Gorge.
NYPA’s Board of Trustees approved a contract with Verizon last fall and agreed to commit an estimated $3.5 million for the cellphone service improvements, contingent on approval from the Comptroller’s Office.
“Improving cellular communications in the area surrounding our Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project has been a priority for the Power Authority since 2011 when landline communications failed due to flooding,” said Brian Saez, NYPA Manager of Central New York. “The Comptroller’s approval puts us on track to complete the project this fall.”
The improvements will affect an area devastated by flooding from the Schoharie Creek during tropical storms Irene and Lee in 2011. During the storms, first responders were hampered when much of the region’s infrastructure, including landline communications equipment, was damaged by flooding.
Verizon will outfit three communications towers with microwave and transceiver equipment, including two existing towers, one on Dave Brown Mountain Road in Blenheim and one off Clauverwie Road in the hamlet of Breakabeen. The third tower is located on NYPA property near the upper reservoir and is used to communicate equipment readings from the upper reservoir to plant staff. A new tower was constructed earlier this year by Centerline Communications of Raynham, Mass., replacing a smaller tower.
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. Follow @NYPAenergy on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, and LinkedIn.