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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.

LIMBA and Islip MacArthur Airport's new Commissioner

UPDATED: 5/13/08 777's are too large for MacArthur, please note this correction.This morning we had the distinct pleasure of greeting the new Commissioner of Long Island MacArthur Airport (LIMA), Theresa Rizzuto. Her disarmingly modest and self-deprecating manner temporarily masks the display of a deep knowledge of the airline industry, garnered through over two decades of experience. That experience started with slinging eighty pound bags as a ramp service worker for United Airlines (UAL) in 1992. In that day, the petite powerhouse needed to lift twice as many bags as her male counterparts to be taken seriously. After having gained entry to the business through UAL’s diversity program, her hard work and talent drove her up the ranks, eventually supervising UAL’s operations at Newark Airport, in charge of a $30 million dollar budget, and a terminal that served six airlines. She capped her time at UAL with an assignment as hub manager at Dulles International in Washington DC, leading a staff of 1,600. Taking some time off the flight line in 1993, she stepped into her family’s orthotics business in Freeport in the role of Operations VP, before bringing her fashionably-shod feet to LIMA in February of this year.

Her talk opened with a recap of her experience and an expression of delight at coming back to Long Island after her stint in the Garden State, followed up by a description of the economic importance that LIMA has to the Town of Islip and Long Island. The meat of her presentation concerned the plans that she and the Town have to revitalize the airport, which has been underutilized in recent history. Some of her goals are adding carriers, redeveloping the west side of the airport, ( where I once took BOCES Airframe and Powerplant vocational courses, longer ago than I care to remember), renovating the western portion of the main terminal, adding wi-fi to the airport, and marketing LIMA as a more convenient alternative to the Port Authority Airports. Ms. Rizzuto also wants to accomplish these goals while keeping the airport the good neighbor that it is today. She emphasized the necessity of picking the right carriers to partner with, that will be in it for the long haul, and be a true partners, where the destination compliments the carrier.

Once again, the Q and A was lively, and I will summarize and paraphrase here:

LIMBA - LIRR President, Helena Williams pulls into our station

Helena Williams, newest, and first female President of the LIRR came to LIMBA today to give us an update on her first six months at the throttle of the nation’s busiest commuter railroad. Drew Scott of News 12 was in attendance and snagged a post-meeting interview. Ms. Williams has a long career in public service, from positions in New York City Government, Nassau County, and running the Long Island Bus division of the MTA. Her enthusiasm for the job is evident, and it is an exciting time to be at the LIRR, working on the first expansion of the system in over a hundred years, East Side Access (ESA). Her approach has focused on three key areas, safety, security, and service reliability. Her talk today was focused on the third area, reliability. She said that this was what has arisen most in her interactions with customers.

The two projects that will have the biggest impacts on service reliability will be ESA and the third track on the mainline between Floral Park and Hicksville. Ms. Williams is not a career railroader, but her demeanor, carriage, and experience appear to make her the right person for the job at the right time. For ESA to be a success, supporting projects in the region must also be implemented successfully, and the attempts by her predecessors to move these forward have met with ferocious resistance from those unwilling to shoulder burdens for the greater good. Her recommendation of Conquering Gotham as a reference bodes well for her prospects in completing the supporting projects. In presenting these projects, she spoke of sharing benefits and burdens on a bi-county, regional basis. To put it in a nutshell, ESA brings huge benefits to both counties, but Nassau must bear the burden of Main Line Corridor Improvements ( MLCI - third track ), and Suffolk must bear the burden of a new train storage yard somewhere. The third supporting project, trackwork in Jamaica, imposes burdens on the existing ridership, having to have things juggled while trackwork takes place within the space and time envelope already owned by the railroad.

Her description of the review process and emphasis on the railroad’s acceptance and integration of community feedback into the plans for MLCI, and a plausible description of road traffic conditions if the supporting projects don’t take place indicate that an understanding of the landscape and a recognition that different sales approach is necessary has arrived in Jamaica station on Track #1. A quick overview with light detail of some trouble spots and how MLCI can solve them shows an engaged manager with both strategic and tactical skills. All those skills will be called upon to guide the nation’s busiest railroad, running 728 daily trains with just about 1200 pieces of rolling stock carrying 289,000 customers per day.

Intra-island service was another highlight of her talk, where she described the integrated project to deal with County Road 39 construction. The LIRR’s shuttle service between Speonk and Montauk was a large, but not the only part, of this effort. She gave kudos to the East End planners that brought together van and carpooling services from LIRR stations to end destinations, plus communication facilities as a model for future projects. She emphasized the integration part of the equation, where the LIRR is part of a holistic approach to transportation, and transportation oriented development.

Once again, we had a lively Q & A session, which covered the prospects for additional shuttle service projects and the Moynihan Station/Farley Post Office project, which prompted a declaration by Ms. Williams that we should have her back for another meeting just to discuss the issues surrounding that particular item. We look forward to another informative Friday morning visit from Madame President.

LIMBA - Plug in Hybrid Vehicle Systems from Odyne

Dana DeMeo, Director of Engineering for Odyne came to speak at LIMBA this morning.  Odyne is a Long Island based company, recently gone public,  that develops and manufactures hybrid propulsion systems for vehicles in classes 6, 7, and 8, which are trucks of over 20,000 pounds.  It was great to see a passionate speaker from a company on an exciting path.  Dana explained the manufacturing process for how trucks like garbage trucks, bucket trucks, and  buses get built.  A garbage truck gets built by ordering a chassis from a manufacturer such as Navistar, putting an engine and transmission in, and then going to what's called an upfitter, such as Nassau-Suffolk truck to put the ultimate body on the truck, whether it is a garbage truck, bucket truck, or delivery truck.  Odyne offers truck builders an alternative drivetrain that works with standard assembly procedures.  It gives highway mileage performance to trucks that have local routes with lots of starts and stops.  The most efficient state for any system is called homeostasis, where all inputs and outputs are in balance.  They've developed a system that gets these types of vehicles close to those operating characteristics.  The estimated ROI for building a truck with an Odyne system is 3 to 9 years based on the cost of oil four years ago.  The vehicles charge overnight, and draw power down from the battery banks during their route.  There is an auxiliary engine on the vehicle, but it exists to charge the batteries, and kicks in when the discharging profile of the battery makes it necessary to start putting energy back into them so the vehicle can finish its route.  Even though it is more expensive to use an Odyne system, there are big direct cost savings in operational characteristics, especially in fuel and maintenance costs.  For garbage trucks, the regenerative braking system, reduces wear dramatically, and makes the trucks tremendously quieter.  The pollution profiles of Odyne equipped vehicles are also super low.  The engine that charges the batteries can be a traditional gas engine, or it can be a CNG or other alternative fuel burning motor.  The engine only exists to provide electrical power.  Another friday morning well spent at LIMBA, with a dynamic speaker from a young Long Island based manufacturing company, remarkable.

Update on the maker of Eagle on the 38th Anniversary of its Moon Landing

Friday morning at LIMBA, on the 38th anniversary of the first moon landing, we had
Duke Dufresne, the current chief of Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Integrated
Systems Eastern Region (Ticker NOC), the current incarnation of the Lunar Module
builder, give us an update on what is going on with the storied aerospace
corporation, long a mainstay of the Long Island economy.
Duke is head of the eastern region of NGC Integrated Systems, which is a 2
Billion dollar division of the company, working with the Navy and Air Force to
connect the warfighter on the ground, sea, and air, with the information they
need to execute their missions.  Today, there are approximately 4,600 employees
in the Eastern Division of which 2000 are on Long Island.  A recent highlight
was the win of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye pilot production contract, totaling 408
Million dollars to build 3 new aircraft.  Duke expects the Navy to buy 75
aircraft in the full production program, and the Bethpage location will have a
strong role in the engineering functions, with the airframes being built in St.
Augustine in Florida.  The team is busy pursuing opportunities on the Navy’s
BAMS project and the AF’s Tanker replacement program, which are both due to be
awarded later this year.

Duke discussed some of the challenges that doing business on Long Island
presents, such as the cost of housing, and the recruiting problems that they
present.  He also detailed some of the programs that Northrop has in place to
address these issues, such as a grant program for employees that are first time
home buyers.  One of the great programs that they run is an outreach program to
get school kids interested in careers in engineering, that not only goes into
high schools, but starts in the middle schools, catching their interest early,
and hopefully recruiting more local talent that will stay on Long Island.   An
avid boater, the southern California transplant was effusive in his praise for
his new home,  a reminder that some of us natives take what we have here for
granted because we grew up with it. 

The aerospace community was well represented at our meeting, with many partners
of Northrop Grumman on hand to educate us on the extensive programs that affect
subcontractors during the Q and A session.  It was again, a very well spent
morning at LIMBA with a chance to meet and greet Duke Dufresne, one of the region’s most
influential people, and NGC's partners. Included in the mix was;

Joseph Battaglia -- President, Telephonics
Ed Palacio -- Vice President, EDO
John Capacchione -- CAPY Machine
Peter Rettaliata -- President, Air Industries
Kenneth Nevor -- NDIA (National Defense Industrial Association) Conference  

 

also in attendance were Northrop Grumman associates:

Diane Dufresne
Patricia McMahon
Dianne Baumert-Moyik
Stacy Simpson 

 

and of course, the ever curious and involved LIMBA membership.

Officiating for LIMBA, Bill Miller, Pres

Presiding over meeting Dick Dunne, LIMBA Board Member

Local Internet TV and LIMBA

One of our newer members, Waldo Cabrera, has created a local internet TV channel, Islip.TV, creating local content and connections between marketers and consumers.  There are several channels of shows, and our fearless leader Ernie Fazio, has appeared on one of them.  Waldo hasn't given out any embed code yet, you still need to go to Islip.tv to see the show, but here's the link to see the show where Ernie so eloquently explains the history and goals of LIMBA

The Long Island Philharmonic at LIMBA

Larry Austin, chairman of Austin Travel and The Long Island Philharmonic Board of Directors, came by to give us an update on the Philharmonic close to the finale of their 28th season.  Larry is a past president of LIMBA, like the Philharmonic, a long running show.  The final two concerts of the season will take place at the Staller Center on Saturday, May 19th, and at the Tilles Center, Sunday, May 20th.  Mr. Austin opened with the story of how he got involved with the Philharmonic, relating stories about its founder, Harry Chapin, and his philosophy of having a base for the classical performing arts on Long Island, consisting of the Eglevsky ballet, the Philharmonic, and the PAF playhouse.  The philharmonic has had its ups and downs, over the years, with the past three being on an uptrend, on the way to erasing what was a $900,000 deficit when Mr. Austin took over as director.  David Wiley is the current music director, producing an eclectic program of classical symphony pieces, pops concerts and children's outreach in the schools.

Making Sewers Sexy - LIMBA

On May 4th, we had the privilege of Suffolk County Legislator Wayne Horsley give us a perspective of how important sewers are to the ecology and economic growth of Long Island.  Wayne apologized for picking such an unsavory topic to be the subject of a breakfast meeting, but as usual, the large crowd of LIMBA faithful ate it up.  With his perspective as a professor of Modern World History at St. John's university, we got some ancient history as well.  The earliest known sewers were found in the Indus valley, around 3300-1700 BC, but Suffolk County still is not widely sewered in this modern age.  To preserve the open space that is left by concentrating development, we need sewers.  The recent development of the Route 110 corridor's new hotel and pharmaceutical plants would not have been possible without connecting them to the Southwest Sewer District.

LIMBA - Phil Nolan, Islip Town Supervisor

Phil Nolan, the recently ( November 2006 ) elected Supervisor of the Town of Islip, came to speak at LIMBA this morning, introducing himself and talking about his experiences to date.  Islip is a town of about 330,000 people, with many challenges and bumps in the road, some of which were discussed today.  Phil is a super busy fellow handling the day to day issues of government in a progressive town.  Rather than a standard stump speech, the session was conducted mostly as a Q and A session.  He brought some key people in his administration to help him address some of the questions posed today.  The most frequent ones were prompted by the largest asset that the town has, MacArthur Airport.  There are two developments regarding the airport, the resolution of the concrete apron problems at the new terminal, and the west side redevelopment project. 

Keyspan Environmental Initiatives at LIMBA

Today at LIMBA we had the opportunity to hear about what is going on with Keyspan Energy's Emissions and Air Quality initiatives.  Bob Teetz, Directory of Environmental Engineering and Compliance for Keyspan, gave a broad and deep presentation of where our electricity comes from, what fuels are used to generate it, and what is being done to make the on island power generation cleaner.  An overview of the external interconnects for power importation, Keyspan's own plants and third party plants was the first part of the presentation.  Keyspan doesn't use any coal to fuel their plants, only #6 fuel oil, Jet Fuel, and Natural Gas are used.  These more expensive, cleaner fuels, contribute to our higher rates here.  The imported power is generated in several ways, including nuclear and coal.  Lower priced imported power is projected to serve a larger percentage of demand as the Neptune project comes online.  Most of Keyspan's larger plants are dual-fuel, switching between Natural Gas and #6 low-sulfur oil.