The Indian Point nuclear power plant, located in Westchester County just 30 miles north of New York City, has been a target of environmentalists since it first opened in 1974. An irrational distrust of nuclear power has motivated opponents to declare it an unacceptable risk and call for its closure, despite the power plant overwhelming safety record. Feeding this irrational hysteria, Governor Cuomo has long referred to Indian Point indeed nuclear power generation as a ticking time bomb and has promised to shut the plant by 2021.
Last week two environmental groups released a report that purports to show how New York can compensate for the low-cost, carbon-free electricity that Indian Point provides ... New Yorkers should buy more efficient light bulbs and appliances, and the state should build a long-delayed, 330-mile transmission line from Quebec to New York City. The report from Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council is a study in wishful thinking and fuzzy logic.
Indian Point has two working reactors that provide New York City and Westchester County with 25% of its power, and has capacity to generate 2,000 megawatts. Unfortunately, the proposed Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line carrying hydroelectric-generated power from Canada to the City would replace only about half of Indian Point output. Estimated to cost $2.2 billion and take 3.5 years to build, the proposed project would burrow under the Hudson River and still does not have all the permits needed to begin construction.
The remaining power gap would have to come from consumers ... individuals, factories, offices ... using less electricity, or from other, higher-cost and often dirtier power generation sources. One problem with the NRDC-Riverkeeper proposal is that New York State is already surprisingly efficient. It ranks fifth in the nation. The NY office building energy efficiency is tied for number-one.
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Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-