CEDX

LIMBA - Carol Ash, NYS Commissioner of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation

Members and Friends,

We had the pleasure of hearing from the NYS Commissioner of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, Carol Ash.  Pro Image Studios recorded the video of her talk and the Q&A, which can be found here:   Ms. Ash is a long time champion of downstate parks and the environment.  Her most recent past position was Executive Director of the Palisades Interstate Parks Commission, and her full biography can be found on the NYS Parks website.   Commissioner Ash, a tireless advocate for the parks system and it’s constituency, gave us a rundown of what is happening with the state park system, that was both sobering and optimistic.  The 28 parks and one state historic site ( Walt Whitman’s home ) on Long Island are some of the jewels in the system.  Mentioning Ken Burns’ newest epic on the formation of the National Parks System,  she let us know that the model for the NPS was the Adirondack State Park, created by then Governor Teddy Roosevelt, and that New York state has always been a pioneer in the development of parks and historic preservation.

One of the misconceptions that Ms. Ash came to dispel is that the expense of Parks is a drag on the economy, and that investment in them performs poorly.  Citing a University of Massachusetts study, she posited that parks are linchpins of local economies, that produce a 5-1 return on dollars invested in park improvements.  On Long Island, that translates to a $410MM boost to the local economy, supporting about 4000 private sector jobs.  The Long Island region has the highest parks attendance of the state.  40% of park revenue is generated by tourists, the US Opens in 2002 and 2009 brought in over $10MM to Long Island’s economy, in spite of the dismally rainy conditions in ’09.

With that, she began her pitch for continued investments in park infrastructure to keep those tourists coming.  Times are tough, money is tight, but upgrades need to be done.  There is an estimated $650MM backlog of deferred work overdue in the parks to keep them in shape.  This year, the legislature has allocated $200MM towards that.  Later today, she will attend a ribbon cutting at Brentwood State Park, where part of that $200MM will go to create state of the art professional quality soccer, baseball , and lacrosse fields, in an economically disadvantaged community.  Disappointingly, the NYS parks system is not eligible for Federal Stimulus Funds, but in a creative partnership with the Department of Labor, the Parks department was able to obtain $3.3MM to start a Civilian Conservation Corps in the Long Island and Niagara regions.  The first phase was to put 90 kids through a training program where they did basic maintenance projects throughout the regional parks.  The second phase will take the stars of that phase, and move them into a more skilled trade learning program, having them work on more sophisticated tasks.

Despite these tough times, the Parks department was able to hold the line on the $8.00 per car entry fee for the parks, and the $56.00 Empire Passport is still a good bargain.  In this time of staycations, park usage is going up.

The Q&A portion of the program was lively, with some advocates from the Kings Park community and allies of the Trump at Jones Beach project in attendance.  One of the great things about LIMBA is the ability for local folks to talk to people of influence and hear their opinions and concerns, and in turn be heard.

Ms. Ash couldn’t say much about the Trump project due to the ongoing litigation, and it was clear from the audience questions that they were much in favor of the project.

A question about which parks paid their ways, was met with the response that the Golf Courses  and Campgrounds are the revenue stars, supporting the rest of the system.

The discussion around Kings Park was summarized by her stance of embracing the local advocates and taking a long look at the issues, and finding the real costs of remediating the site.  The first phase of the study is done, the second is due to complete in about 18 months.

On the question of raising revenue, the department is trying to find sponsorships for the Empire State Games, working with the “I love NY” people to market the parks more, and looking at creating public-private partnerships similar to the California Parks Foundation, and the Central Park Conservancy.

Yet another productive Friday morning at LIMBA, where regular folks get to meet movers and shakers that directly affect our lives.

LIPA's LIMBA update on Smart Grids - Bruce Germano

As always, I find LIMBA meetings an excellent place to meet people that have a great deal of influence over the Long Island region.  The value that I have gotten from these over the years is incalculable, in both learning how things work, and meeting new friends.  Some topics are political, some technical, and lots are both.  An overview of Smart Grids was given by a long time member of LIPA and its predecessors, Bruce Germano, the man responsible for LIPA's retail operations.

Bruce opened his talk this morning by recounting his experiences with Smart Grid technology dating back to 2002.  Back then, we were thinking Smart Grids, but there wasn’t a name for them.  With time, new definitions emerged, of a power network that has intelligence built into it, with the ability to control pushed further out to the edge of the network.  Currently, there are limitations in the power system that prevent that control  being extended.

According to Bruce, a smart grid is a communications network overlaid on to the power network, giving customers the ability to decide the best time to use power based on price signaling.  A Smart Grid helps bring down peak load demand.  It enables a customer and a utility to understand and control demand on a real-time basis.  In 2002 this was just a dream, but advances in technology are making it possible.  Utilities are looking for ways to provide customer choice and one of these ways is to introduce a Smart Grid.

To facilitate that LIPA, in concert with Stony Brook University and SUNY-Farmingdale, is seeking stimulus funding to implement a Smart Grid technology pilot project.  There are a lot of technology gaps to be filled, but if a go, the project has the following three goals:

·         Smart Grid Demonstration – Show that the technology to connect customer s to markets in real time is feasible,  and allow them to control their demand according to price signals they receive.

·         Green Job Creation – The deployment Smart Grid technology will require specialized skills and custom assembly of hardware and software to build the sensor networks required and the software backend to communicate the information gathered and control signals sent.

·         Green Skill Training – To move beyond a pilot phase, the original lessons of the project have to be translated into repeatable steps.  Developing the work force to implement Smart Grid technology on a wide scale will require educating a large number of subject matter experts that can grow the grid commercially.

The vehicle to achieve these goals is the building of a smart energy corridor along Route 110 from the Long Island Expressway, down to the southern border of Republic Airport.  This area brings together a lot of partners and ties together many existing efforts.  A diverse mix of customer types exists along the corridor, with commercial, industrial, residential, and municipal located there.  SBU is looking into two areas, load modeling systems, and the communications security risks associated with remote control.  SUNY-Farmingdale is bringing their exiting energy research labs, plus their investigations into sensor technology.

The technology gaps are being filled, but it is an evolutionary process and all the pieces are not in place yet.  Many big players like IBM, GE and Hitron are aiming to compete in this space.  Appliances are integrating communications and control into consumer devices, allowing the owner to program the timer for the cheapest time to use electricity.  The opportunity to evolve electric meters to support this exists, but there are no standards for Smart Grids and their devices.

The Department of Energy published 15 characteristics of a Smart Grid, and the National Institute of Standards is developing those specifications for devices and systems to interoperate.  Stability of the system is paramount, as we don’t want the repeat of another 2003 blackout, which was caused by a cascading system failure of the grid’s control structures.

Bruce wrapped up by letting us know that the stimulus application was filed about two weeks ago, along with thousands of other applications, and is waiting for the federal government to get through the review process.

Opening the floor to questions, Ernie opened the session by asking if Smart Grid technology will eliminate the need for new power plants, and would Plug-in  Hybrid Electric Vehicles help our situation.  Bruce responded by reminding us of Long Island’s insatiable need for electricity, and noting that although PHEV’s may help smooth out demand peaks, they increase total demand on the grid because they are getting their stored energy from the grid rather than burning fuel.

John Howell asked if every building by default be able to participate in the smart grid.  Bruce projected that the meter connecting the business would be smart and able to participate, but it would be up to the building owner to install the controls necessary to implement variable price consumption strategies.

Pat Halpin of the Suffolk County Water Authority asked if there will be incentives for customers to interrupt their power and use off peak power.    A discussion of the various ways pricing regimes could be constructed followed, with the net result being, we’ll see when we get there.

The ensuing discussion concluded yet another well spent Friday morning at LIMBA, where you get to meet a diverse set of leaders from across Long Island industries and organizations, and learn something valuable in an hour as you start the last day of the work week.

A great attitude towards mobile computing

This quote from Hans of NYC resistor sums up my feelings about wireless network security: "Instead of trying to create a safe network, instead we need to think of our computers and devices as an island in rough seas."  Read the full post here.

Any network where you don't have physical control of the end to end connection should be treated as an untrusted network, and if you really care about security, you should use an encryption scheme to secure the communications that you care about before they leave the device that you're using.