Mayor Michael Bloomberg helped welcome an environmentally friendly power plant that opened in Co-op City on Thursday.

The $65 million facility is called a trigeneration plant for its multiple functions. The power plant generates electricity, uses steam for heating and cooling and diverts extra steam to generate more electricity and heat. Mayor Bloomberg says that the extra energy will be sold to neighboring parts of the city.

The power plant is part of the mayor?s push toward a greener city under PlaNYC, an initiative to make New York City environmentally conscious. Not only will the power plant help to produce cleaner air, but it will also help the community save $15 to $20 million in fuel costs.

The mayor also says the power plant is a far cry from the community?s former use of the dirtiest type of fuel in the city.