Democrat & Chronicle
Sen. Hillary Rodman Clinton will be in East Rochester on Monday to visit the newly installed fuel cell at the Each Rochester School District, her staff confirmed today.

Clinton, the leading Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, also will announce recommendations from a “green” building conference she held in Rochester last fall.

She is expected to tour the school district about noon.

As for the fuel cell:
Democrat & Chronicle
EAST ROCHESTER — The East Rochester school district should be generating its own electrical power this weekend because of a fuel cell that has been up and running since last Saturday.

The technology is expected to cut the district’s energy bill as well as the emission of gases that, according to many scientists, cause global warming.

After seeing a Discovery Channel program on fuel cells about four years ago, Assistant Superintendent of Business Michael Mamo began efforts to bring the technology to East Rochester. With the help of an $833,000 state Energy Research and Development Authority grant, the district purchased a fuel cell from United Technologies Corp. Power.

East Rochester is the first school district in Monroe County to install such a fuel cell, which produces 200 kilowatts of electricity an hour. Liverpool’s school district in Onondaga County has one, as do a sprinkling of districts across the country.

East Rochester’s fuel cell sits in a closed room across the hall from the elementary school cafeteria. A window will soon be installed so students can watch it produce the power that will be used to cook their lunches.

Because the fuel cell looks like a 10-foot-tall box, the district’s director of technology, David Rovitelli, is planning a computer display that will show students and interested citizens exactly how this 16-ton device turns hydrogen fuel and oxygen into electricity.

The fuel cell should generate 50 percent of the school district’s electricity during the week, when energy use is high. When classes aren’t in session, it will meet all of the district’s power needs.

For now, UTC Power is taking care of the fuel cell. Soon district employees will be trained to handle basic maintenance, and head custodian Jose Correa is eager to learn more.

“Making half of our own power is pretty exciting,” he said.

The fuel cell project cost about $2 million. If the district receives the reimbursement from the state Education Department that it is expecting, $350,000 of that amount would come out of the district’s capital reserve fund.

With the fuel cell active, the district expects its energy bill to drop about $100,000 a year.

Superintendent Howard Maffucci says the fiscal savings are only a small part of the fuel cell project’s value.

If bad weather causes power failures, the district would still be able to produce energy and provide a safe haven for residents.

According to UTC Power, fuel cells are virtually pollution-free, giving off heat and water. By contrast, making electricity by burning coal, for example, produces carbon dioxide, a gas that most scientists say contributes to global warming.

The project also complements efforts to make Monroe County a hub for fuel cell technology.

“The greater Rochester area wants to be a player in alternative energy,” said Maffucci. “Here’s a real-life example of how it can work.”

This will be a great value to the district if it works as believed. I do want to point out that it would NOT have been possible without a significant amount of grant support. Alternative power sources have to be affordable to succeed.

The East Rochester Volunteer Ambulance Corps will be providing EMS for Hillary’s visit.