Central Hudson unveils new motto

Steven V. Lant was midway through his address last week at the Central Hudson Gas & Electric inaugural “Power Breakfast” at The Grandview in Poughkeepsie when the heavens loosed flashes of homemade electricity and accompanying thunder. Lant, the company president and CEO, continued ticking off a playbook of Central Hudson initiatives and policies ”“ plus a brand-new corporate motto ”“ as the rainstorm seemingly boomed approval for 110 years of power delivered via wires.

Lant told 100 business and political leaders of the utility”™s new motto ”“ “People. Power. Possibilities.” ”“ and then used it to frame a record of actively bettering the lives and livelihoods of its 300,000 electric and 74,000 gas customers stretching 125 miles on both sides of the Hudson River from south of Albany to Westchester and including portions of eight counties. The company employs 830 in positions ranging from linemen ”“ “Our most visible presence,” Lant said ”“ to electrical engineers, three of whom ”“ Jennifer Paull, Kevin Post and Heather Adams ”“ were cited for technical advances that link substations with radio transmitters.

Lant cited a number of CH green initiatives, including a plan to make solar electricity on an industrial level and the introduction of electric cars to the CH fleet this year. He sided with both the Indian Point nuclear plant in Buchanan, now facing relicensing, and with drilling the Marcellus shale for what he said is $1 trillion in recoverable natural gas. “Fracking” of the shale has proved controversial ”“ earthquakes and water pollution are the big issues ”“ but Lant cited potent economic numbers from Pennsylvania, which is tapping the shale, to buttress the argument for shale exploitation: 50,000 new jobs and $1.7 billion in new energy revenues.

Lant said there is no way to eliminate Indian Point”™s 2,000 megawatts without first replacing them with new plants, probably fired with natural gas, and with increased transmission lines from as far away as Canada. But his delivery was calm ”“ recalling, not avoiding, the ongoing Fukushima tragedy ”“ and he said, “I”™m an advocate of facts over fear. We need to do the research. No source of power is perfect. We need to build an energy portfolio reflecting price, reliability and safety.”

The company expects to spend $1 billion in the coming decade on service upgrades across the spectrum. Some of that money will go to tree trimming, “vegetation management” in company parlance, which has tripled in cost in the last 10 years to $14 million annually. Some 40 percent of outages are tree related, Lant said, noting the valley is home to some of the densest tree populations anywhere. He acknowledged complaints about aggressive tree management, but he laid blame with a tree for the August 2003 blackout that affected 50 million and said the “enhanced” trimming, even using helicopters in rough terrain, had cut into CH outages 40 percent to 85 percent.

CH also looks to replace the 80-year-old Maybrook-to-Walden power line. The age of the Maybrook-Walden line is a secondary consideration to its condition, what CH terms “condition-based infrastructure” management and what Lant said is the correct way to make a decision.

Lant identified the company as an advocate for both tax and mandate relief. CH has seen its own property tax bill rise 70 percent in the last decade and, in one unnamed municipality, 64 percent this year alone.

Central Hudson also is the prime sponsor of Hudson Valley Economic Development, which was represented at the breakfast by its President Mike Oates. Lant serves as the development agency”™s chairman. With evident pride, Lant told the assembled that CH is the only publicly traded company headquartered in the Hudson Valley. IBM is based in Westchester.