Yorktown Patch - Hayworth Hears from Energy Suppliers, Consumers

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By Tom Bartley
Yorktown Patch

Rep. Nan Hayworth came to Mount Kisco Thursday to talk energy with the people who supply, consume and regulate this indispensable resource.

On a day when near-record temperatures challenged Con Edison's ability to keep pace with demand, the freshman lawmaker met behind closed doors for more than an hour to discuss rising prices, conservation and what she described as "burdensome regulations."

The roundtable took place in the boardroom of the Mount Kisco Boys and Girls Club. Some 20 invitees--most of them representatives of utilities and oil distributors including, among others, Mount Kisco Mayor J. Michael Cindrich; Mark Thielking, Bedford's director of energy resources; David Singer, Esq., Chairman of Westchester and Putnam Workforce Investment Board and CEO of Robison Oil Corp. and David Gabrielson, executive director of PACE Now and a Bedford town councilman.

They began their private session shortly after 10 a.m. When it wrapped up at about 11:30, doors were opened to the press for photos and some questions.

In the brief Q&A, Hayworth said that fashioning a "comprehensive energy plan takes a lot of energy," she urged voters to contact their representatives in Washington. "Public pressure makes these things happen faster," she said.

The Bedford Republican said the GOP-controlled House had sent a number of energy initiatives to the Senate, where Democrats are in the majority, only to see the measures languish.

Later, in an interview, Hayworth noted the multiple moving parts that must come together to find answers to the nation's energy needs.

"We have energy suppliers from a diversity of sources and energy consumers with varying needs," she said. "Both . . . would welcome an easier way to have a reliable and appropriately affordable energy stream and ways of maximizing efficiency that they can pursue in a way that will generally save on consumption and cost."

While insisting that solutions are best sought at the lowest possible level, from the individual person to local and state government, she acknowledged that the scale of the energy problem gives Washington a role in finding its solutions. "How can the federal government make it easier, cheaper and environmentally sound?" she asked.

"We have to balance a number of priorities at a time when we absolutely cannot afford to add cost to our consumers or our job creators," Hayworth said. "There are ways that job suppliers and those that work in energy conservation can work together."

She acknowledged the cost but said, "We have to consider the expenditure of tax dollars as an investment. That doesn't mean you don't do it, but you must be cognizant that what we spend costs taxpayer dollars--and we have a very limited supply of taxpayer dollars."

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