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News Archive 2003 Regional coalition
presses fight to save Indian Point
By Alex Philippidis
Westchester County Business Journal
November 17, 2003
A regional coalition of business, labor and minority groups
- including the owner-operator of Indian Point - said it will
ask business groups in Westchester to join it in pressing
for the continued operation of the Buchanan nuclear power
plants and other measures that would guarantee an adequate
power supply.
The New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance (New
York AREA) said the group can succeed where many of its members
have struggled individually over the past two years - namely,
persuading lawmakers and the public that the region can best
meet future energy needs by fostering development of more
power plants, and keeping existing ones open, especially Indian
Point.
The nuclear plants are at the center of a debate over whether
their risks to public safety and the environment - especially
in the event of a sudden radiation release or 9/11-style plane
crash into the facility - outweigh benefits such as 2,000
megawatts of power and 1,500 jobs.
"We will utilize our members to reach out to community
organizations, the community boards. It will be important
to get community support," said Arthur J. Kremer, counsel
to New York AREA's advisory board and a former Democratic
member of the state Assembly who chaired its Ways and Means
Committee. "Our message is that the area needs a world-class
energy network if we are to continue to have a world-class
economy."
New York AREA drew immediate criticism from Riverkeeper Inc.,
the Garrison-based environmental group that has spearheaded
its own coalition to close Indian Point.
Kyle Rabin, policy analyst with Riverkeeper, dismissed the
coalition's membership as "the usual cast of characters"
since many have defended Indian Point operator Entergy Nuclear
Northeast at public hearings and in op-ed articles.
"The coalition is basing its existence on false assumptions,
that there are no alternatives (to Indian Point) from their
standpoint. However, there exist numerous alternatives,"
Rabin said. "The sky will not fall if Indian Point closes."
Riverkeeper said more energy conservation, and more use of
alternative energy like solar and wind power, would dampen
projected price hikes if the plant were to shut down - an
argument rejected by Entergy.
Riverkeeper also supports the $700 million "Empire Connection"
proposal by Conjunction L.L.C. to lay two circuits of underground
power lines that would carry up to 2,300 mw of lower-cost
power from upstate New York 130 miles south to Westchester
and New York City. Conjunction said the project would save
Westchester and New York City businesses and residents more
than $600 million per year in electric costs once the project
is completed in 2006.
Renewing Article X
Kremer said New York AREA would also press state lawmakers
to renew the state law that shortened the "Article X"
process of reviewing applications for new power plants. The
law expired at the end of last year.
As of Aug. 27, the latest available date, six new power plants
with a total generating capacity of 3,130 mw were under construction
and another five with combined capacity of 2,892 mw had been
approved by the state since 2000, according to the state Public
Service Commission.
The weak economy and post-Enron problems with securing financing
prompted many power plant builders to hold off on construction.
Yet the New York Independent Systems Operator, which oversees
the state's wholesale energy market, has projected a need
for 8,000 additional megawatts of power by 2008.
"We plan to cite statistics and reason and say that
these are facilities we need," Kremer said.
Kremer spoke Nov. 5, hours after New York AREA held its inaugural
meeting in New York City.
Members were briefed on security and emergency planning at
Indian Point by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani,
the chief executive officer and founder of Giuliani Partners.
Entergy is a client of Giuliani's consulting firm, and is
also a member of New York AREA, Entergy and Kremer acknowledged
- though the Indian Point operator's name does not appear
on the list of 20 members circulated by the group in a press
release.
"We were part of the evolutionary process of the formation
of the group (New York AREA), and proud to do it," declared
Laurence P. Gottlieb, an Entergy spokesman.
One Westchester group was listed among members: The Tarrytown-based
Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley
Inc., which represents 550 contractors and their suppliers
in Westchester and seven other counties.
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