The Port TIMES RECORD Port Jefferson • Belle terre • Port Jefferson station • terrYVille
Volume 28, No. 27
June 4, 2015
$1.00
Culper Spy Day draws near
also, ‘The Producers’ at the Engeman, ‘Puss in Boots’ at Theatre Three
PagE B1
Bang, bang! I am the Warrior Photo by Harry Posnanski
The Comsewogue boys’ track and field team broke two school records at a divisional meet last weekend on the Warriors’ home track. Six athletes also placed at the meet. Above, Austin Sperl, left, runs in the 4x400-meter relay race. Story starts on page A13.
Village thinks small Looks to get community on backup energy grid Elia ascends throne
Education commissioner succeeding King has worked in N.Y. and Florida
PagE a8
BY elana Glowatz
With several emergency services packed into a small area, Port Jefferson Village officials hope to secure a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority toward building a local backup energy grid to be used in case of a crisis. The village applied for the NYSERDA grant to build the backup grid, known as a microgrid, through a statewide competition because of the critical community services that cannot stop functioning during a power outage, Mayor Margot Garant said. “During a severe weather event such as we had with [hurricanes] Irene and Sandy, where the hospitals lost power and some of us lost power — some up to 14 days, [and the] hospitals were out eight to 10 days — those … patients that
were on critical care services were put in harm’s way,” Garant said at the village board of trustees meeting Monday night. “So basically if we have a microgrid during those severe weather systems … where the overall grid goes down, we flick a switch and keep our critical services online.” Microgrids are independent of the regional grid and rely on their own power-generating resources. NYSERDA may award up to $40 million total to help communities around New York State build those microgrids. Port Jefferson Village is not the only municipality on Long Island applying for a slice of the pie. Huntington Town officials recently agreed to pursue the grant funding for their own microgrid, to support buildings like Huntington Hospital and the town’s wastewater treatment MICROgRID continued on page a16
Hurricanes have caused power outages in recent years.
File photo