Annual Report 2001
Page 4
New York City is facing a critical deficiency of electricity over the next five years that threatens to affect the City’s residents and businesses alike. Unless immediate action is taken to provide additional supply, New Yorkers could well experience routine spikes in the price of electricity, brownouts and even blackouts in the near future.
Recognizing the urgent need to act, the Building Congress, led by its Energy Committee, quickly mobilized and enlisted the support of a broad coalition of civic, business and labor groups in what has become a major effort to raise awareness of this impending crisis among New Yorkers and elected officials.
In order to fully understand the City’s complex energy situation and to develop clear recommendations, the Building Congress and its co-sponsors – the Association for a Better New York, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, New York City Partnership and Real Estate Board of New York – undertook a major research project.
The group analyzed all facets of the issue including electricity demand forecasts, deregulation, conservation and the regulatory process. Their exhaustive research yielded a groundbreaking report, Electricity Outlook: A Matter of Urgency.
Armed with their forecasts and analysis, the coalition voiced concerns and offered recommendations for electricity demand management and increasing in- City supply at meetings with Governor George E. Pataki, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and other top elected and public agency officials in Albany and City Hall.
To formally release their report, the Building Congress and its partners hosted a luncheon forum attended by top industry and business representatives as well as by every major media outlet in New York City. Their call to action, bolstered by the energy crisis in California, attracted major news coverage and generated a host of editorials in support of the group’s proposed solutions.
“This ongoing effort is a microcosm of the Building Congress itself,” noted Chairman Jeffrey M. Levy. “Through research, active member participation, media outreach, forums and meetings with high level public officials, we have injected a needed sense of urgency into an issue sure to impact New Yorkers’ quality of life as well as the long-term prospects for our industry and the City’s economy."
