Theresa Knickerbocker, the mayor of the Village of Buchanan, talks about the Indian Point Energy Center closing and what lies ahead for the village. Mark Vergari/lohud
To kick off 2018, lohud reporters will be assessing the state of critical issues on their beats. In this story, investigative reporter Thomas C. Zambito looks at the state of energy issues in the Lower Hudson Valley and beyond.
The January 2017 agreement to shut down the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan continues to have broad implications for New York. Hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in property tax revenue will be lost. Local businesses, including restaurants, hotels and gas stations, will have to look elsewhere for the steady infusion of cash Indian Point's 1,000 workers provided. And what about all that electric power Indian Point has been churning out for 40 years? What type of energy sources will fill the gap?
On the beat
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2018 State of the State included a commitment to turning New York green by relying more on renewable sources of energy like wind and solar power in the decades to come.
“New Yorkers know too well the devastation caused by climate change, and in order to slow the effects of extreme weather and build our communities to be stronger and more resilient, we must make significant investments in renewable energy,” Cuomo said this month.
The governor reiterated his goal of having the state depend on renewables for 50 percent of its energy needs by 2030. That won’t be as easy as it sounds.
SHUTDOWN: Indian Point reactor back up and running after six-day shutdown
STRANDED: Nuclear waste stranded at Indian Point
CRISIS: Nuclear plant shutdowns a crisis for small towns across the USA
Getting there will take considerable investment in wind, solar and hydro-power projects, not to mention overcoming the sort of not-in-my-backyard opposition that typically bogs down mega-projects. Not everyone wants their ocean view obscured by giant wind turbines. Nor do they want the farm next door taken over by acres and acres of solar panels.
Cuomo has proposed investing $200 million to store intermittent sources of energy like wind and solar power so they can be deployed as needed. And he’s set a goal of providing storage for some 1,500 megawatts of clean energy by 2025.
The timing is critical.
The Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan is slated to close in 2021, leaving a sizable gap in the state’s energy grid – Indian Point produces approximately 2,000 megawatts daily – and removing what's been a reliable source of energy for customers in Westchester County and New York City for decades.
What will fill the void? Natural gas? Hydro-power?
The state’s energy picture should start coming into focus in 2018.
What to watch for
- Will the Champlain Hudson Power Express – hundreds of miles of underground cable that will deliver hydro-power down from Canada – overcome community opposition in time to deliver energy to New York’s southern tier once Indian Point closes? In October, Rockland County officials got Transmission Developers – the company spearheading the plan – to alter the cable's route amid community opposition.
- Will there be progress on finding a future home for nuclear fuel stranded at the nation's nuclear power plants? Despite the Trump Administration's efforts to reopen the licensing process for an underground repository in Nevada, there’s still no place for spent nuclear waste to be stored long term. Will Congress back a plan to create an interim storage facility in New Mexico?
STUDY: Yonkers, big cities will pay millions for nuke bailout
SOLAR: Sun surge: NY bursts into top 10 solar power states
COSTLY: Entergy's costly litigation a factor in Indian Point shutdown decision
- Indian Point is one of more than a dozen nuclear power plants across the country that are either in the process of closing or with announced plans to close. In the coming months, Indian Point's owner, Entergy, is expected to decide whether it plans to turn over the plant’s demolition to a private business. Much hinges on the outcome of Entergy's plan to contract out the demolition of its Vermont Yankee plant.
- Will natural gas plants like Cricket Valley Energy Center (1,020 megawatts), CPV Valley Energy Center (678 megawatts) and Bayonne Energy Center (120 megawatts) be used to replace the power lost once Indian Point shuts down?
Why you should care
The state’s energy decisions have a direct impact on electricity bills. Higher costs for energy means higher electricity bills.
Key players
Paul Gallay
The Riverkeeper president helped broker the Indian Point shutdown agreement and continues to weigh in on the state's future energy choices. Gallay doesn't want the energy gap left by Indian Point to be filled by natural gas plants. “Replacing Indian Point with these power plants would cause a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions, and the new pipelines required to serve some of these facilities will cause significant water quality impacts,” Gallay said.
Theresa Knickerbocker
The mayor of Buchanan has established herself as a fierce advocate for the interests of those who live around the plant and – along with Town of Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi - wants to identify revenue-generating uses for the Indian Point property after the shutdown. And that involves getting the federal government to live up to its commitment to find a place for the nation's nuclear waste. “I am frustrated that it’s taken 30 years for the federal government to find a permanent repository for the nuclear spent waste,” Knickerbocker said this year. “Thirty years, billions of dollars have been spent.”
Terrence Murphy
The Republican state senator from Yorktown has used his post on the Indian Point Closure Task Force to advocate for workers who will be displaced by the shutdown. And he's urging the state to redirect funds to towns that stand to lose tens of millions of dollars in property tax revenues once the plant closes.
Key dates
Jan. 17: The contract for some 340 members of a key Indian Point union, the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2 , expires at midnight. Negotiations for a new contract are underway.
April 22 -- Earth Day. The target date the Cuomo Administration has set for proposing a far-reaching energy efficiency initiative that will keep public and private sectors focused on reducing energy consumption.
April 30 -- The Indian Point Closure Task Force created submits its annual report.
By the numbers
333 – Miles of underground cable that will deliver water-generated power down from Canada to Queens while passing through the Rockland County towns of Stony Point, Haverstraw and Clarkstown.
1,000 – Megawatts of power that will be delivered to the New York City metropolitan area by the Champlain Hudson Power Express.
1,000 -- Number of homes powered by a single megawatt.
2,000 -- Megawatts of power that will be lost once Indian Point shuts down in 2021.
$38 million -- Estimated annual tax payments to communities located along the Power Express route, according to Transmission Developers.
$30 BILLION – The cost of upgrading the state’s aging energy infrastructure over the next decade, according to the Cuomo Administration.
30,000 – Number of new jobs in the clean energy industry the Cuomo Administration wants to create over the next decade.
$15 million – Amount Cuomo has asked the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to invest in clean energy development and infrastructure advancement, including offshore wind.