Power Authority offers free trees
for community-owned electric systems

Concerned that a substantial portion of the trees in some communities were uprooted in recent snowstorms, New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and Chief Executive Officer Timothy S. Carey is urging the state's 51 municipal electric systems and rural cooperatives to take advantage of a NYPA tree planting program. In a letter to the community-owned electric systems, Carey upped the ante, by offering a free tree for each one the municipalities bought.

The Power Authority has had a "buy-one-get-one free" tree program for the past 15 years. But its original purpose was to reduce energy use, not to counter storm-wrought deforestation. The energy-saving benefits of trees are linked to a phenomenon known as evapo-trans-piration. Trees cool by releasing water vapor that can reduce the ambient air temperature by as much as six degrees Fahrenheit. When planted near homes and buildings, they can reduce summer air-conditioning costs by as much as 25 percent.

Less well-known is the ability of trees to serve as windbreaks against cold and wind chill. A study found that homes can benefit from strategically placed trees and shrubbery and save as much as one-third on heating bills. That's particularly important in the state's municipal electric districts, where electric heating is commonplace.

The Power Authority has worked out an arrangement with the New York State Nursery and Landscape Association to supply the trees to the members of the state's Municipal Electric Utilities Association at a cost of $70 each, with the Power Authority supplying an identical sapling at no additional cost.

March 11, 2007