It was old news to Roosevelt Islanders who’ve been following the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project in The WIRE, but it attracted the appropriate number of cameras and made suitable headlines when Mayor Michael Bloomberg showed up Monday morning to throw a ceremonial switch turning on electricity coming from six turbines spinning in the east channel of the East River, just north of the Roosevelt Island Bridge.

If you’re new to this story, in a nutshell, for some four years Verdant Power has been planning, then implementing, a first phase of a field of hundreds of tidal energy turbines in the East River. (Bloomberg pointed out that it’s an estuary – and spelled e-s-t-u-a-r-y for the reporter from The Daily News – after which Lt. Gov. David Patterson made a point of calling it the "East Estuary" during his brief speech.)

Verdant’s turbines are spun by the fast tides of the East River Estuary, and they reverse direction to capture the flow both ways. A full field of 300 turbines, adjacent to Roosevelt Island and nestled next to the United Nations complex, would produce the energy equivalent of 68,000 barrels of oil a year, Bloomberg pointed out, "enough to power up to 8,000 homes." He added that, "This is the first time anyone has derived renewable energy from the natural flow of water without the use of dams, delivering it to local businesses." (Gristede’s is using the power, and it is fed into Motorgate lighting as well.)

Bloomberg said the City expects a population growth of nearly a million additional people by 2030, and told of plans to mount solar panels on City buildings to capture the power of sunlight. He described a City investment in a 107-megawatt wind farm upstate, producing enough power to run 80,000 homes.

Patterson, who also had a hand on the ceremonial switch, told reporters and guests that New York State imports some 85% of its fuel. He called it "vital" that the State reduce its dependency on imported energy.

Verdant Power is working toward a permit to place enough underwater turbines here and near the U.N. to generate 5-10 megawatts of electricity. The turbines are also seen as a potential boon to isolated areas without electricity. As one Verdant executive pointed out, "Everybody lives near flowing water, but not all of them have electricity."