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.

BACK TO TOP