New group to be alternative to Indian Point opponents
By Jenny Weil
Nucleonics Week
November 20, 2003

A newly formed coalition of business and community leaders and labor organizations plans to tell a side of the Indian Point story not presented by antinuclear activists and spread the message that the plant is safe and a reliable source of electricity for the New York metropolitan region.

About 17 individuals and groups joined as founding members of a coalition calling itself the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance (AREA). The group was officially launched Nov. 5 with seed money provided by Indian Point owner/operator Entergy Nuclear.

Entergy Nuclear spokesman Jim Steets declined to say how much money the company provided but said it was ''not a huge amount'' and that the funding mostly covered administrative and startup costs. The hope is that the organization participants will make donations or seek other sources of funding to become self-sustaining, said those close to the group.

Although the advocacy group's first project is to shore up support for Indian Point, it has a wider agenda to raise awareness about consumers' electrical needs and the supply and distribution system. Part of the motivation for the group's debut was the Aug. 14 blackout in parts of the U.S. and Canada, it said. AREA says the ''economic prosperity of the region will depend on how effectively energy issues are addressed.''

The primary spokesperson for AREA will be Jerry Kremer, former chairman of the New York State Assembly's Ways & Means Committee. Kremer will be counsel to AREA's advisory board.

Speaking at the first gathering of AREA members last week was former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, now CEO of Giuliani Partners, which was hired by Entergy as advisers on Indian Point emergency planning and security issues. Neither Giuliani nor his consulting company is listed as a New York AREA member.

Those named as participating members are: African American Environmentalist Association; Aquarius Services Corp.; Associated Builders & Owners; Boilermakers Local 5; Building Trade Employers Association; Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley Inc.; Matt Cordero, director of the Center of Management Analysis at C.W. Post University; Energy Association of New York State; former New York City Councilman Walter McCaffrey; General Contractors Assoc.; William Havens, professor emeritus at Columbia University; Independent Power Producers of New York; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1049; KeySpan Energy; Local 1-2, Utility Workers of America, AFL-CIO; Long Island Power Authority; New York Building Congress; New York City Central Labor Council; New York City Partnership; and the Business Council of New York State.

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