Crains New York Demo - (Page 10)

VIEWPOINT Power up the electric grid T COMMENTS editor in chief Rance Crain publisher, vp Jill R. Kaplan EDITORIAL editor Xana Antunes managing editor Glenn Coleman deputy managing editors Valerie Block, Erik Ipsen assistant managing editor Erik Engquist senior producer, projects Kira Bindrim senior producer, news Elisabeth Butler Cordova contributing editor Elaine Pofeldt columnists Greg David, Michael Gross, Alair Townsend pulse editor Barbara Benson senior reporters Theresa Agovino, Aaron Elstein, Lisa Fickenscher, Matthew Flamm, Daniel Massey, Miriam Kreinin Souccar reporters Amanda Fung, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Adrianne Pasquarelli, Jeremy Smerd reporter /producer Emily Laermer art director Steven Krupinski deputy art director Carolyn McClain staff photographer Buck Ennis copy desk chief Stephen Noveck copy editor Thaddeus Rutkowski research editor Dana Gordon assistant research editor Suzanne Panara research interns Callie Eidler, Helen Kwong editorial intern Ali Elkin EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICES he most sensitive energy issue in New York is Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desire to close the Indian Point nuclear plant, which he considers an unacceptable safety threat but which the business community wants open so the city won’t go dark. While that is a worthwhile debate, it’s moot until New York addresses another problem: the electric grid. The state’s network of transmission lines is outdated and underperforming. Bottlenecks in the grid prevent power from being moved efficiently downstate from the northern and western parts of the state. If New York City is to grow by 1 million people over the next quarter-century, as the Bloomberg administration envisions, it will need more electricity than it can get today. The approach taken in recent years has been to build more power plants in and near the city, which has resulted in a 30% expansion of local generating capacity. But it’s only a partial solution, and an imperfect one at that. Building plants can be an expensive proposition that invites community opposition, takes forever and gobbles up waterfront land that is better used for housing, office space, retail and recreation. Witness the renaissance that these uses have sparked in such Brooklyn neighborhoods as Red Hook, Williamsburg and Dumbo. A faster and more economical answer to our power needs is to improve and add to the transmission lines that crisscross the state. Generating stations in western New York have about 4,000 megawatts of surplus capacity, and others in the North Country and Quebec can also produce more electricity than can be delivered. Generating more kilowatts Now is the time to build NY’s energy superhighway from existing plants in these areas would increase employment where it is desperately needed and save downstate the trouble and expense of building new facilities. In his State of the State speech in January, Mr. Cuomo pledged to issue a request for proposals to implement a master plan addressing the state’s power needs for the next 50 years. The governor spoke of an “energy highway” system costing $2 billion and financed by the private sector. He didn’t mention that end users would ultimately pay at least some of the bill. One issue he must resolve is how the expense would be shared by the various beneficiaries. But significant progress can be made relatively quickly without spending a fortune. Eliminating all the choke points— notably near Utica and Albany—would take eight to 10 years and cost an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion, according to a study commissioned by transmission-line owners. The upgrades that have the highest payoffs and use existing rights-of-way should be identified and completed first. Gains would be realized as work continued. This would be a worthy investment in economic development that also promises to help the environment by making more sustainable energy sources, like wind farms, feasible upstate. Mr. Cuomo should get started. 711 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017-5806 editorial: 212.210.0277 Fax 212.210.0799 advertising: 212.210.0711 Cable craincom nyk Fax 212.210.0499 Entire contents ©copyright 2012 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. ®CityBusiness is a registered trademark of MCP Inc., used under license agreement. TO SUBSCRIBE: For subscription information and delivery concerns, please e-mail customerservice@crainsnewyork.com or call 877-824-9379 (in the U.S. and Canada) or 313-446-0450 (all other locations.) $3.00 a copy, $99.95 one year, $179.95 two years. www.crainsnewyork.com ADVERTISING AND MARKETING advertising director Trish Henry senior account managers Irene Bar-Am, Courtney McCombs, Sheryl Rose, Suzanne Wilson account executive Jill Bottomley Kunkes sales coordinator print & online Danielle Wiener newsletter product manager Alexis Sinclair credit Todd J. Masura 313.446.6097 director, audience development Michael O’Connor senior marketing manager Catherine Schutten event producer Courtney Williams reprint sales manager Lauren Melesio senior web developer, interactive Chris O’Donnell NEW YORK PRODUCTION production and pre-press director Michael Corsi advertising production manager Suzanne Fleischman Wies PUBLISHED BY CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. chairman Keith E. Crain president Rance Crain secretary Merrilee Crain treasurer Mary Kay Crain executive vp, operations William Morrow senior vp, group publisher Gloria Scoby group vp, technology, circulation, manufacturing Robert C. Adams vice president/production & manufacturing David Kamis chief information officer Paul Dalpiaz founder G.D. Crain Jr. (1885-1973) chairman Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. (1911-1996) Protect West Side stores ZONING PLAN HAS BROAD SUPPORT The premise of the article on the proposed Upper West Side rezoning (“Victims of their own success,” March 19) is that freezing the number of storefronts wider than 40 feet would occasion rent increases that force out some businesses. Since there is no current restriction on raising commercial rents on stores large or small, correlating hypothetical rent increases with the rezoning is at best speculative. What is certain is that absent the proposed limitation, landlords would remain able to aggregate smaller storefronts into larger ones, creating rent pressure on smaller tenants or displacing them altogether. The proposal directly addresses this squeeze, leaving merchants now in wider stores in no materially different position. Little wonder that so many merchants support it. The proposal was tailored to ensure that a mix of stores can continue to flourish on the Upper West Side along with larger stores, as demand and the market permit. The story’s predictions of dire rent increases rely on an estimate by a broker who represents CRAIN’S WELCOMES SUBMISSIONS to its opinion pages. Send letters to letters@crainsnewyork.com. Send columns of 475 words or fewer to opinion@crainsnewyork.com. Please include the writer’s name, company, address and telephone number. ARE DEMOCRATS TO BLAME FOR RISING GAS PRICES? Date of poll: March 19 —mark diller, richard asche, e thel sheffer The writers are chair of Manhattan Community Board 7, co-chair of the CB7 Land Use Committee and former CB7 chair, respectively. Yes. Their actions have curtailed future supply and caused speculators to drive up the price of oil. RUSH TO JUDGMENT What Rush Limbaugh said is wrong. What bothers me more is that the media choose whom to pick on. Your article (“Groups aim to crush Rush,” March 19) didn’t mention the treatment Sarah Palin got from Bill Maher, David Letterman and others. They go after every woman who is a Republican using much worse words than Limbaugh did. This looks like a joint effort to help the For this week’s online-poll questions: Go to www.crainsnewyork.com/poll to have your say. Democrats and divert the conversation away from the real issues—like the economy, foreign affairs and the national debt. The way this article reads shows that Crain’s is joining the left to demonize people the left doesn’t like. —dov matz 10 | Crain’s New York Business | March 26, 2012 . building owners and who is a board member of a BID that opposed the measure. It cites the experience of a hardware store owner whose shop is not within the affected zone and who was forced to move twice—hardships that might have been averted if the new zoning were in place. Similarly, three of the other five businesses given as examples of a possible rent disaster are not within the area proposed for changes. The zoning amendment has the overwhelming support of the community and elected officials. Predictions of economic disaster have no place in a serious effort to plan for a sustainable future. 419 votes No. Production’s up, consumption’s down, and the Keystone XL pipeline’s consultant said it would have little effect on gas prices. 58% 42% . http://www.crainsnewyork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/poll

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York Demo

Crains New York Demo
Contents
Sweet project in danger of a total meltdown
More red ink on the books at Reader’s Digest
Bank in the tank: Bad bet on rates sinks Hudson City
Neighborhood Journal
The Insider
Small Business
Viewpoint
Really dumb move, Upper West Side
Real Estate Deals
Classifieds
Business Lives
Hot Jobs
Executive Moves
The Week Ahead

Crains New York Demo