Small businesses in St. Lawrence County are a step closer to being eligible to receive cheaper power in exchange for creating jobs, following action by the state Senate.

Senators Joseph A. Griffo and Patty Ritchie, whose districts include part of St. Lawrence County, both voted with the majority in the Senate for legislation he co-sponsored to create a new permanent program called “Recharge NY” that would provide low-cost power to businesses.

Griffo said that this program is an improvement over its very popular predecessor, the Power for Jobs Program.

“We made it permanent, to take the guesswork out; made it a more reliable program and increased its capacity so that more employers will be eligible for the benefits,” he said. “These changes should have been implemented years ago, but we now have an executive who shares our vision for job growth in upstate communities.”

The Recharge NY bill would double the amount of low-cost power available for businesses and non-profits to 910 megawatts.

The bill was submitted as a program in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2011-12 Executive Budget.

Griffo said the program could help revitalize the manufacturing sector of New York’s economy, which he said has lost 288,000 jobs over the past 10 years. With electric rates for businesses in New York at twice the rate in other states, Griffo said, energy costs are a factor when New York-based companies decide whether to stay open or expand, and when new companies decide where to invest.

The bill is supported by the Business Council of New York State, the New York Farm Bureau, NFIB, the Manufacturers Association of Central New York, Environmental Advocates, the Long Island Association and the Buffalo Niagara Partnership.

The original Power for Jobs program began in 1997 and has been extended year-to-year for the past five years. It now provides low cost power to about 500 businesses.

The new program would provide twice the wattage, and businesses participating in the program would receive seven-year commitments for their allocations of low-cost power. There would be no cost to the state for this program.

“Over the last few years, I heard the same message from businesses who knew about the program: they love the benefits, but hated the uncertainty of its year-to-year renewal,” Griffo added. “Once this is signed into law, they’ll see that we’re fully focused to improving upstate job creation.”

Recharge NY would combine the current allocation of 455 megawatts of power for Power for Jobs with another 455 megawatts now used to cut residential electric bill across Upstate by two to four dollars per month. In return, the New York Power Authority would provide residential customers with a yearly discount totaling $100 million through 2013. The discount would be reduced to $70 million in 2014, $50 million in 2015 and $30 million in 2016 and beyond. This phase out would be offset by savings from the scheduled expiration of the electric utility surcharge passed by Senate Democrats in 2009, as well as costs paid by NYPA through a combination of hydroelectric power and other resources, Griffo said.