Monday, May 3, 2010

Gov wants to extend power incentives for NY businesses including nonprofits

The Legislative Gazette reported that Gov. David A. Paterson is urging the Legislature to extend and reform the state's Power for Jobs and Energy Cost Savings Benefit programs to secure long-term funding for businesses and nonprofits before the programs expire on May 15.

Paterson wants to replace the two programs with a New York Power Authority program called Energize New York that would provide fixed-priced, long-term power contracts to existing and new qualifying businesses and institutions that agree to maintain minimum levels of employment or make investments in New York. Paterson sent his Energize New York reform plan to the Legislature in March.

"I am opposed to any further enabling legislation that does not make this a permanent program. … We need long-term decisions in the interest of promoting economic growth and to do that [we] need a program that's not going to be a political can that gets kicked down the road," Paterson said at a press conference last week.

The Power for Jobs program was established in 1997 to provide energy incentives to businesses and not-for-profits retaining or creating jobs in New York. Paterson had made reforming the program a priority in his State of the State address in January. "We cannot afford to let this critical job creating program lapse," said Paterson. Read more here.

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