WHITE PLAINS - New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Kessel today announced  the competitive award of two contracts to firms in Northern New York and the Capital District, totaling about $2.8 million, in support of work to be done at NYPA’s Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project in the Northern Catskills.

“These contracts will provide key services to our Blenheim-Gilboa facility,” Kessel said. “The Power Authority does hundreds of millions of dollars in business every year with New York enterprises in connection with our contributions for the state’s electric power system, economy and environment. We are always delighted to be able to stimulate local New York businesses through our Trustees’ contract approval process.”

The contracts, which were approved by the NYPA Trustees on Tuesday, are being awarded to D.A. Collins Co., of Mechanicville in Saratoga County, for the refurbishment of tainter gates (used to control water flow) and to Northline Utilities, of Au Sable Forks in Essex County, for installation and replacement of circuit breakers.

D.A. Collins Co. was awarded a nearly $2.2 million contract for work on two of the Blenheim-Gilboa project’s three tainter gates. The gates must be maintained in order to ensure proper operation so that water can flow easily from the project’s upper reservoir and avoid overtopping the dam. Following detailed inspections in 2007 and 2008, NYPA determined that the gates would need to be refurbished. Under the terms of the contract, the gates will be worked on over the next two years.

Northline Utilities was awarded a $604,000 contract for installation of new circuit breakers at the Blenheim-Gilboa project. In 2002, NYPA instituted a program to replace all nine of the existing circuit breakers at the facility. Since that time, seven of the circuit breakers have been replaced, with Northline Utilities slated to install the final two circuit breakers over the next two years.

NYPA’s Blenheim-Gilboa project is a special type of hydroelectric facility that operates like a giant storage battery.