Jennison plant generated electrical power from 1945 to 2000 | Columns | thedailystar.com

Jennison plant generated electrical power from 1945 to 2000 | Columns | thedailystar.com

It was just a little more than 10 years ago when the last electricity was generated at the Jennison electrical power generating plant in Bainbridge. The 1945 plant along state Route 7 stopped generating Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2000, and then closed Saturday, Nov. 4, 2000.

"There might be some tears and jokes," said Joe Nowhitney, a boiler operator, about the final crew and upcoming closure.

The mood was markedly different Thursday, Dec. 13, 1945. Nearly 250 guests of the New York State Electric & Gas Corp. gathered in the still-clean track hopperhouse of the plant, the coal unloading area next to the D&H Railroad tracks. Here, a buffet luncheon was served and a program followed.

By the 1990s, things were looking grim at the Jennison station. "NYSEG: Bainbridge plant survival at stake" was a headline in The Daily Star on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1993. It wasn't just coal being used to generate electricity at the plant. That year, the burning of soil contaminated with coal tar became "necessary for the survival" of the plant.

Only two years earlier the state Department of Environmental Conservation had given permission for NYSEG to burn tires at the Bainbridge facility. Tires were removed from area landfills, chipped and sent to the station to be burned for energy.

Also in 1993, it was proposed that the plant burn polyethylene plastic extracted from disposable diapers in its fuel mixture. In 1994, permission was given to burn marijuana and other illicit drugs seized by police. Smokestack emissions from all of these fuel sources often drew concerns from Bainbridge area residents.

The Virginia-based AES Corporation bought the plant from NYSEG in 1999, and by 2000 AES had cited the age of the facility and the cost of the plant had become too great. The plant was closed and placed on what was termed "long-term cold-standby."

 

It’s raining out again ☔

It’s been such a wet and cloudy year this year, especially on the weekends. Bad luck I guess and it’s only expected to get wetter come the weekend into next week. I’m going to see if I can untake off next week and cancel my October vacation at least for now.

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Rain showers and 48 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear around 1 pm.

Out for my morning walk 🚶 it’s kind of cold and damp 🌧️ though it’s not raining like it was earlier. Yesterday I skipped both my morning and evening walks, I wasn’t feeling it but rode back and forth to work. 🚲 Going to be another dark and shadowy day, I’m glad I have those bright new lights on bicycle I’ll certainly use them. I love how I can charge them right on the bike using a USB charger. 🔋

Breakfast today was oatmeal – banana pancakes with shredded carrots 🥕 added to the mix. I like the additional fiber, almost adds a crispiness to the pancakes 🥞 much like oil did back before I got into healthy eating. I made whole wheat garlic bread 🍞 in the oven topped with everything bagel seasoning which is quite good especially dipped in balsamic vinegar. Pea soup with carrots and onions and lots of spices are cooking down in the kitchen 🧑‍🍳, I need to run to Stewart’s and get milk 🐮 and have a second cup of coffee ☕ before laddling out soup and bread for lunch, showering and riding my bike 🚲 to work. Then climb the 18 flights of stairs and it’s off to work. I have a stack of cap grants to review. 📄

Today will start out with showers then mostly cloudy 🌞, with a high of 64 degrees at 2pm. Typical for today. Maximum dew point of 47 at 5pm. South wind 5 to 9 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 65 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1949. There was a dusting of snow in 1987.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:43 pm with sun having an altitude of 40.4° from the due south horizon (-30.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:44 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (255°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (261°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:22 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 56 seconds with dusk around 6:48 pm, which is one minute and 41 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 7:23 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 59 degrees. The dew point will be 47 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 16 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 48 seconds over today.

I got the address verification approved which is the last step to collecting ad revenue on the blog 📺. It looks like if I maintain my current level of traffic and revenue I’ll get my first payment of around $140 come around Thanksgiving. That will help me defray a lot of the operating costs 💵 and inspire me to come up with useful content and update maps. Plus my new data management system makes it much easier to update old maps. 🗺

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 43 degrees at 6am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 10th. Light and variable wind. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 41 degrees. The record low of 22 occurred back in 1964.

While I found enough socks for today, 🧦 today I either need to go to Walmart and get more socks for the rest of the week or the laundromat. Probably get socks as I am low on socks regardless, and maybe boxers too as most of the pairs I have are getting pretty worn, fit poorly as I’ve loss so much weight, and then there is a lot of kitchen staples I need that I was putting off debating if I would take off next week or not for vacation. 🛒 But with the forecast for Thomas WV next week I think today I will put the kibosh on next week’s vacation. 😞 Maybe next week.

Another rainy weekend on tap. 🌧️ Saturday, rain likely, mainly after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 54. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Sunday, a chance of rain before 2pm, then a chance of showers after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 54. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 62 degrees.

I keep refreshing the weather page for Thomas, West Virginia 🗻 in hopes that the forecast for all of next week would move away from rain and 45 degrees for a high most of next week. 🌧️ But with no luck. If anything as the days grow nearer things get worse. I need to bite the bullet and see if I can work next week. 🔫 It’s annoying that I’ll probably miss peak autumn but I really don’t want to camp most of the week in the rain. I plan to decide some point today, to give my employer enough time to know I’ll be in the office next week. Maybe I’ll take a future week off to go to West Viriginia or do it in a series of shorter vacation.

Looking ahead but maybe not forward, there are 3 weeks until Average High is 55 🍂 when the sun will be setting at 5:50 pm with dusk at 6:18 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny, warm, mist and temperatures between 69 and 54 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 55 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 1950.

 North West

Cooperstown

There were a lot of people in Cooperstown today so I only spent a brief time here with my mask on before leaving town. 

Taken on Saturday October 17, 2020 at Cooperstown, New York.

Sunrise Over Lake Moraine

Back in 2014 for work in Madison County, NY I stayed in one of the cabins along Lake Moraine in Central NY. It was chilly come the end of the month, but it was still quite the adventure.

Taken on Monday October 20, 2014 at Lake Moraine.