BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Limba - ECPv6.16.5//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Limba X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://limba.net X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Limba REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20110313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20111106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20120311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20121104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20130310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20131103T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120803T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120803T000000 DTSTAMP:20120803T040000Z CREATED:20120803T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120803T040000Z UID:4528-1343952000-1343952000@limba.net SUMMARY:LIMBA Randy Altschuler DESCRIPTION:Our LIMBA speaker this morning was Randy Altchuler\, the Republican congressional candidate for the 1st congressional district\, a seat that is presently occupied by Tim Bishop. \nMr. Altchuler addressed the audience stating that job creation would be of paramount importance. One of the impediments to higher employment according to Mr. Altchuler was regulation. I pointed out to the speaker that there are some regulations that are beneficial to the public as protection. When asked about the Glass- Steagal Act he was not sure. (Glass Steagal Act separated banking and investment houses since the days of FDR) It was disassembled over the past three presidents. Its removal has been cited as one the causes of our recent financial debacle. \nMr. Altschuler told us that he could work in an independent bi-partisan way in congress. During the Q&A Mike Cooney asked if he signed the famous Grover Norquist tax pledge. He said he had. The follow-up from the same person then asked\, “Where is your allegiance to Norquist or the Constitution? Randy said the pledge also reflects the wishes of the people he expects to represents. \nAltschuler spoke about the Affordable Healthcare Act otherwise known as Obama Care. He stated that there were some desirable aspects of the legislation but he objected to the size and scope. He did not say he would try to repeal it. He left us with the impression he would look for some modifications\, but was not specific. \nThe topic of size and scope began a new area of discussion. Most legislation is too large and generally incomprehensible. The audience was solidly with him on this point. We all know why omnibus bills are presented and that is to hide all sorts of “goodies” for one or more special interests. \nRandy stated that infrastructure funding was essential and he would support it. It was pointed out to him that the Republicans in the house have not voted for infrastructure projects. I asked since the party was committed to making Barack Obama a one term president\, how would that happen? Randy said ‘that’s a loaded question”. I agreed\, it was a loaded question\, but I wasn’t making it up\, those were Mitch McConnell’s words. Altschuler insisted that he understood the issue well enough to know investments in transportation and other projects were essential. \nChris Garvey\, a Ron Paul supporter\, was in the room and asked if the candidate would join in abolishing the Federal Reserve. He stated that he would not support such an effort. \nVictor Yannacone posed several items\, one on taxing people such as hedge fund operators the same as most other people. Another was revising corporate taxes to encourage investment while discouraging debt\, and still another to re-instate the penny tax on stock transactions that would discourage the mega-trading that has disrupted the stock market. (That tax if it did not discourage the same behavior would raise many billions of dollars.) \nThis audience was very active during the Q&A and it was clear that that they are not bashful about asking pointed question even if they were politely phrased. \nGreenworld Marketing a company that promotes the use and installation in the most efficient compact and safe wind energy technology sponsored this meeting. Greenworld also owns technology for the building of high-speed ferries. \nThank You Gerry Fitzpatrick for your sponsorship URL:https://limba.net/calendar/limba-randy-altschuler/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120810T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120810T000000 DTSTAMP:20120810T040000Z CREATED:20120810T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120810T040000Z UID:4526-1344556800-1344556800@limba.net SUMMARY:No Meeting Summer Schedule DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/no-meeting-summer-schedule-2/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120817T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120817T000000 DTSTAMP:20120817T040000Z CREATED:20120817T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120817T040000Z UID:4525-1345161600-1345161600@limba.net SUMMARY:Michael Hervey -LIPA DESCRIPTION:  \n \nMr. Michael Hervey\, President of LIPA was our speaker this morning and he covered a lot of topics. He explained the considerations that LIPA was making when it came to the workforce that makes it all happen in the new contractor selection \n  \nBut there were other options that LIPA had. \n\nIt could have become a true municipal power company\nIt could have continued with National Grid with a newly negotiated contract\nIt could select a new contractor\n\n  \nThe issues that were involved with true municipal were concerns over the nature of the workforce and how that would be handled \nAs far as generation is concerned not much would change. LIPA would still have to buy the power from outside vendors. \nThey chose to select a new vender under what we could gather\, was better financial terms. That vender turned out to be PSE&G (Public Service Power & Gas) \n  \nThe transition is actually quite complex and much of the complexity is the workforce. Some of the workforce was dual purpose serving National Grid’s gas division and also the electric power division. None of the PSE&G people will be in the gas division. That will still be in the hands of National Grid. Then there is the issue of management PSE&G can absorb the union labor but the management will be theirs. It was not clear to us what would happen regarding the management employees. \n  \nHervey talked about the “storm hardening” measures that have been taken. The system was upgraded to withstand winds of up to 130 MPH. There has been a considerable amount of new equipment to support that effort and Hervey claimed that LIPA’s readiness was credited with being the best overhead system in the state. \n  \nThe renewable energy plan has been installing solar at train stations parking lots and other places. These systems are performing\, according to LIPA’s Mike Deering\, at about 30% higher than the projections when the plans were made. These installations are capable of recharging electric cars that are parked in the lots while introducing excess power into the grid. With the small number of electric cars presently\, most of the power generated is going into the grid. \n  \nAnother area where LIPA tells us they have been aggressive is energy conservation. The main benefit of conservation is the avoidance of building more capacity because more capacity means the commitment of resources for a long period. \n  \nThere has been some relief in the cost of power. We have seen the cost of power rise considerably in the past 10 years\, but now the there are more plants designed for gas\, and gas has been at a low price. The lower generating costs are being seen in our bills. The long term prospect for having low cost for gas seems to be pretty good. \nWe do not benefit from the low cost of Hydro-power from Canada because we simply do not have an energy trunk that can handle the power we need. The Governor has been working out the obstacles to moving that power to lower New York State and that would include Long Island. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/michael-hervey-lipa/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120824T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120824T000000 DTSTAMP:20120824T040000Z CREATED:20120824T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120824T040000Z UID:4527-1345766400-1345766400@limba.net SUMMARY:Ken Daly Pres National Grid NY DESCRIPTION:Our speaker this morning was Ken Daly\, President of National Grid NY; this was a good follow-up to our last week’s speaker from LIPA. The major players in electric energy are in flux\, and the audience was very interested in what we could expect. \n  \nMr. Daly began by stressing that the corporation considers safety to be an important aspect of their business. Hurricanes and winter related failures are of primary importance. Now that National Grid no longer has the LIPA distribution contract\, but it will still generate 2/3 of the electric power. And they will still be supplying gas just as they did in the past.   \nPSE&G will be LIPA’s contractor. The good news is that the workforce will remain the same. \n  \nNational Grid will continue to build out the gas supply distribution system. According to Ken it is a slow and costly process\, but there are plans to serve a lot more people. After these last two weeks presentations we can appreciate some of the complex issues that these entities are dealing with.   \nNational Grid is building a gas supply line that will cross the water coming from Brooklyn to the Rockaways near the Marine Parkway Bridge. It will travel down the Rockaway peninsula and emerge in Nassau County. This will be an additional source of natural gas for Long Island. \n  \nKeeping rates low requires a concerted effort to keep company operations efficient. In addition they are working on efficiencies that are on the customer side. He also noted that the gas itself has never been less costly as it is presently. That may fluctuate a little\, but Daly thinks the long-term prospects of low price gas are excellent. He based that prediction on the fact that we are producing a lot of gas at the wellhead and there appears to be an enormous amount of gas in the ground. According to Daly a home gas conversions from oil reduces pollutants that are equivalent to removing 45 cars from the road. \n  \nKen then spoke about the many community involvements that National Grid addresses. The Girl Scouts and United Way had representatives in the room and both of them praised National Grid for the assistance they provide. National Grid’s school speaker program encourages students to pursue STEM. This acronym stands for Science Technology\, Engineering and Math. This education formula leads to well paying and interesting jobs\, and industry needs these people. Encouraging students in this direction is good for the Long Island region and it has long-term benefits to business. In other words we all win.   \nThe Cinderella Project was first developed by the Brooklyn Union Gas Company National Grid’s predecessor in 1966. That community initiative revitalizes areas that need to be rehabilitated. The modern Cinderella program is a more focused on green technologies when executing Cinderella projects   \nQ&A \n  \nIt was pointed out that methane gas (natural gas) has a higher potential for greenhouse effect than CO2. How good is leak prevention and detection? Daly said the new distribution system components are very effective at providing system integrity. \n  \nAnother question was on repowering old plants. Daly said that interim work has made the old generating units measurably cleaner. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/ken-daly-pres-national-grid-ny/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20120831T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20120831T000000 DTSTAMP:20120831T040000Z CREATED:20120831T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20120831T040000Z UID:4536-1346371200-1346371200@limba.net SUMMARY:Labor Day Weekend NO MEETING DESCRIPTION: No meetings are scheduled on holiday weekends URL:https://limba.net/calendar/labor-day-weekend-no-meeting-3/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR