THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR | 2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)

COFFEE WITH WHITE PLAINS WEEK 8:30 EDT SATURDAY THE MARCH 14 REPORT ON FIOS CH 45 WP OPTIMUM CH 76 AND www.wocommunitymedia.org and Saturday 8:30 AM EDT

Posted on March 14, 2025 by John Bailey

THE CARDINAL COMES TO TOWN AT WHITE PLAINS ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE

WE TAKE YOU THROUGH THE JUNGLE ON THE BOTANICAL GARDEN CANNONBALL

METRO NORTH IS THE ROAD TO RIDE. COMMUTERS COME BACK TO THE RAILS SILVER LINING OF CONGESTION TAX

QUEEN OF THE ARTS! JANET LANGSAM IS PUTTIN’ ON A SHOW AT NEUBERGER MUSEUM APRIL 2 HER PAINTINGS OF HER LIFE!

PLUS 2025 WHITE PLAINS ASSESSMENT ROLL ALWAYS A BIG EVENT!

WHITE PLAINS ECONOMICS AT MID FISCAL YEAR

GOVERNOR HOCHUL HAS TO GET SOME WORK OUT OF THE LEGISLATORS AND WHIP THEM INTO ACTION

WITH JOHN BAILEY AND THE NEWS

EVERY WEEK ON WHITE PLAINS WEEK

FOR 24 YEARS

OUTSTANDING AND HE IS MILD

MARCH 18 6 PM TO 7:30 YOUR UTILITY RIGHTS EXPLAINED WEBINAR

Posted on March 13, 2025 by John Bailey

There is a lot of concern and frustration with the high utility rates we are all experiencing. Please join my colleagues and me, in partnership with the Public Utility Law Project, for a webinar to learn more about your rights as a utility customer. Registration is required.

Click here to register

Office of Assemblymember Chris Burdick | Website

MARCH 12—NEW YORK RAILROADS RIDERSHIP UP STRONG. 100% ON TIME. 17% INCREASE IN RIDERS

Posted on March 12, 2025 by John Bailey

KEEPING NEW YORK MOVING MORE!: GOVERNOR HOCHUL CELEBRATES METRO-NORTH RAILROAD AND LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD’S ON-TIME PERFORMANCE AND RIDERSHIP MILESTONES

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad trains are achieving significant milestones so far in 2025, with high on-time performance records and strong ridership gains, building on record service reliability documented in 2024.

Ridership Achievements on the Commuter Rails up 17%

There was a strong rebound across several ridership categories. Commutation ridership was up 17.1 percent, including a 17.1 percent increase for monthly ticket ridership and a 17.8 percent increase for weekly ticket ridership.

Single trip ticket ridership was up 8.7 percent overall, including a 24 percent increase in peak single ticket ridership. Although off-peak single ticket ridership was down 3.4 percent, CityTicket — tickets good for one-way travel that begins and ends within New York City — ridership increased 15.8 percent.

The first two months of 2025 have seen exceptional service for Metro-North Railroad with an upward trajectory in both ridership and on-time performance, including a 100 percent on-time performance day across all three train lines on Sunday, March 9 — the 21st time the railroad has reported 100 percent on-time performance since 2023. Long Island Rail Road customers have seen record levels of on-time performance, with a 2025 year-to-date on-time performance of almost 97 percent — three percent above the established monthly goal and almost two percent over 2024’s record of 95.65 percent outside of COVID years.

“We are delivering a faster and consistently reliable mode of public transportation to riders with each milestone the commuter railroads achieve,” Governor Hochul said. “New Yorkers know that they can depend on the Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains every single day — whether it’s for their daily commute to work, or for a trip to a different part of New York State.”

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “Even with surging ridership and hundreds of trains running every day, MTA’s commuter railroads keep delivering better and better service. LIRR and Metro-North continue to set the national standard for safe and reliable mass transit.”

Metro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi said, “The best way to keep people coming back to public transportation is to provide safe, clean and reliable service every single day and that’s what Metro-North does. Last week more than 99% of Metro-North trains operated on time. That means when our customers arrive at their station their train will be there making it easier to plan their activities for the day.”

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said, “Today’s announcement by Governor Kathy Hochul is a testament to the incredible progress we are making in improving transit access. The Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad are not only meeting but exceeding expectations, providing reliable service and enhancing ridership. These milestones are particularly exciting for the Bronx as our community continues to benefit from greater connectivity and more dependable transit options. As we move forward, I am committed to ensuring that our borough remains a priority in these transportation improvements and that we continue to see these positive changes for all Bronxites.”

On-Time Performance Data

Metro-North Railroad

On-time performance (OTP) for the week of February 24 through March 2 was 99 percent — marking an improvement across all three lines and meaning that almost every single train was on time. This was the ninth time since 2023 that all three of the Metro-North Railroad (Metro-North) lines operated at 99 percent or better OTP in the same week.

Hudson Line 99.4 percent

Harlem Line 99.2 percent

New Haven Line 99 percent

These incredible numbers from the first two months of 2025 follow a remarkable year for the railroad in 2024 — a year that saw Metro-North’s OTP hit an all-time high, exceeding 98 percent. The Metro-North also saw an average daily ridership of 176,414 passengers the week of February 24 through March 2 — an increase of 13.8 percent from the previous week.

MARCH 11– SOLAR ADDS MORE NEW CAPACITY TO GRID IN 2024 THAN ANY ENERGY TECHNOLOGY IN PAST TWO DECADES

Posted on March 11, 2025 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. From SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION. March 11, 2025:

Solar and storage account for 84% of all new capacity added to the grid in 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States installed a record-breaking 50 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity in 2024, the largest single year of new capacity added to the grid by any energy technology in over two decades.

According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight 2024 Year in Review report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, solar and storage account for 84% of all new electric generating capacity added to the grid last year.

In addition to historic deployment, surging U.S. solar manufacturing emerged as a landmark economic story in 2024. Domestic solar module production tripled last year, and at full capacity, U.S. factories can now produce enough to meet nearly all demand for solar panels in the United States. Solar cell manufacturing also resumed in 2024, strengthening America’s energy supply chain and cementing its place as a solar powerhouse.

“Solar and storage can be built faster and more affordably than any other technology, ensuring the United States has the power needed to compete in the global economy and meet rising electricity demand,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “America’s solar and storage industry set historic deployment and manufacturing records in 2024, creating jobs and driving economic growth. It’s critical that lawmakers continue to support an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy that fosters the growth of American energy sources like solar and storage.”

Total U.S. solar capacity is expected to reach 739 GW by 2035, but the report forecasts include scenarios showing how policy changes could impact the solar market. Sudden changes to federal tax credits, supply chain availability, and permitting policy will create uncertainty for investors, increase costs for developers and manufacturers, and cause a slowdown in solar deployment.

The low case forecast shows a 130 GW decline in solar deployment over the next decade compared to the base case, representing nearly $250 billion of lost investment. A slowdown at this scale could leave the U.S. without the electricity needed to meet rising demand, threatening growth in the manufacturing and technology sectors that rely on abundant power.

Many of the fastest-growing solar states such as Texas, Indiana, and Florida would see the largest declines in deployment under the low-case scenario. Texas alone could lose out on over $50 billion of solar investment over the next decade.

“Last year’s record-level of installations was aided by several solar policies and credits within the Inflation Reduction Act that helped drive interest in the solar market,” said Sylvia Levya Martinez, Principal Analyst, North America Utility-Scale Solar for Wood Mackenzie. “We still have many challenges ahead, including unprecedented load growth on the power grid. If many of these policies were eliminated or significantly altered, it would be very detrimental to the industry’s continued growth.”

Texas led all states for new solar capacity additions last year, replicating a record-setting 2023 with 11.6 GW of new installations. In total, 21 states set new annual installation records, and 13 states added over 1 GW of new solar capacity in 2024.

The utility-scale segment saw historic gains in 2024, growing by 33% year-over-year with a record 41.4 GW of installed capacity. The community and commercial solar markets also set annual records, growing by 35% and 8%, respectively. The residential solar market experienced its lowest year of installations since 2021 due to state-level policy changes and elevated interest rates nationally. Forecasts show that the market is expected to rebound over the next decade.

Learn more at seia.org/smi.

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About SEIA®:

The Solar Energy Industries Association® (SEIA) is leading the transformation to a clean energy economy, creating the framework for solar to achieve 30% of U.S. electricity generation by 2030. SEIA works with its 1,200 member companies and other strategic partners to fight for policies that create jobs in every community and shape fair market rules that promote competition and the growth of reliable, low-cost solar power. Founded in 1974, SEIA is the national trade association for the solar and solar + storage industries, building a comprehensive vision for the Solar+ Decade through research, education and advocacy. Visit SEIA online at www.seia.org