NEW YORK, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- It's official. Queens is the coolest borough in New York. The Borough of Queens has turned in 3,014 old air conditioners and replaced them with energy-efficient ENERGY STAR(R) qualified models, making Queens the winner of the 2007 BE COOL Challenge. Thanks to their response to the challenge, the residents of Queens have prevented 405,623 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and saved 371,450 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity.

"Now what I already knew is official: Queens is the coolest borough," said Borough President Helen Marshall. "Queens residents should be proud to have made this significant impact on the environment and of their effort to conserve energy. We won the BE COOL Challenge because it's our people that truly make Queens the coolest."

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Con Edison, issued a challenge this past summer among New York City's five boroughs and Westchester County to become the community with the highest percentage of residents participating in the New York's BE COOL campaign and earn the title of "coolest" community. The campaign resulted in 9,756 window and through-the-wall air conditioners being replaced with ENERGY STAR qualified models, preventing 982,882 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and saving 900,075 kWh of electricity overall.

"We congratulate Queens for winning the BE COOL Challenge and all the communities that participated in the campaign. This is a win for your community, the state and the environment overall," said Paul D. Tonko, President and CEO of NYSERDA. "It's this kind of grassroots commitment and action that will help us move closer to Governor Spitzer's goal of reducing energy consumption 15 percent by 2015, as well as fight climate change and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels."

"Every New Yorker who upgraded to an energy-efficient air-conditioner helped protect the environment by reducing energy use. We congratulate the residents of Queens and Borough President Helen Marshall for their efforts," said Roger B. Kelley, NYPA President and CEO. "The energy saved as a result of BE COOL helps to achieve Governor Spitzer's '15 by 15' target to reduce statewide energy use by 15 percent from forecasted levels by 2015."

"Congratulations to our Queens customers for their tremendous contribution toward saving energy and protecting the environment," said Rebecca A. Craft, director of energy efficiency programs at Con Edison. "And thanks to each customer in Con Edison's service territory who participated in the Be Cool Challenge. Your commitment to use energy-efficient appliances helps protect the environment now and in the future."

Complete BE COOL Challenge results are available at www.GetEnergySmart.org. For more information about programs that help New Yorkers save energy, visit www.GetEnergySmart.org or call 1-877-NY-SMART (1-877-697-6278).

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) uses innovation and technology to solve some of New York's most difficult and environmental problems in ways that improve the State's economy.

NYPA is the nation's largest state-owned electric utility and provides energy-saving and clean energy technologies to public institutions such as schools, hospitals and universities. Visit www.nypa.gov to learn more about the New York Power Authority.

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED), one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $28 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York. For additional financial, operations and customer service information, visit Con Edison's Web site at www.coned.com.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

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