NYSEG customers not being choosy

The results are in for the fourth round of New York State Electric & Gas Corp.'s Voice Your Choice program.

About one out of every four NYSEG electricity customers -- or 212,353 out of 868,888 customers -- actively chose a power supplier and pricing option for this year, NYSEG spokesman Clay Ellis said.

The remaining customers were automatically enrolled in one of several default options:

* NYSEG supply customers who did not make a choice were enrolled in a NYSEG variable price option, specifically the NYSEG Default Supply Option for residential and small business customers, and the NYSEG Variable Price Option for larger business customers.

* Customers who did not make a choice and buy their electricity supply from an energy services company, or ESCO, were put in the ESCO Price Option and will continue to buy their supply from their ESCO.

Of those customers who made a choice, 77 percent selected the NYSEG Fixed Price Option, 11 percent selected the default supply option and 12 percent selected the ESCO supply option.

About 28 percent of NYSEG electricity customers made an active choice during the 2006 enrollment period, Ellis said.

Also, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority announced Monday that it awarded NYSEG $200,000 in funding for a $373,923 project at U.S. Salt Corp.'s Watkins Glen facility.

An engineering study for a compressed air energy storage facility will be undertaken to determine if underground salt caverns can be filled with compressed air for later discharge to drive electric-generating turbines. This process would pump air into the cavern during low-cost, off-peak hours, and store it there until it is needed to replace natural gas-fueled turbines during peak-demand periods.

The project is in contract development, with work expected to begin by the second quarter, NYSERDA said.

NYSERDA said its investment in NYSEG's project and other projects across the state will help reduce electric demand and strengthen the reliability of the New York grid.

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