BUCHANAN – The Indian Point nuclear power plant contributes an estimated $1.6 billion annually to the New York economy and $2.5 billion to the nation as a whole, according to a Nuclear Energy Institute study released on Monday.
One of the largest taxpayers in Westchester County, the facility contributed $30 million in state and local property taxes, with a total tax benefit of $340 million to local, state and federal governments, the study found.
Indian Point’s nearly 1,000 employees benefit from an annual payroll of some $140 million, which stimulates nearly 4,400 additional jobs in other businesses in New York, according to the study.
1,000 employees, $140M annual payroll, $30M in taxes paid
“Indian Point greatly strengthens the local, regional and state economies through job creation, tax payments, and direct and secondary spending,” said Robert Myers, NEI’s vice president for policy development and planning, who directed the study.
Shutting down the power plants would have a significant negative impact
on the region, he said.
“Leaving aside the lost jobs and other impacts it makes absolutely no sense to allow Indian Point to close down,” Myers said. “There is only one option capable of producing power around the clock to replace a nuclear plant and that is gas fired combined cycle generating capacity. Gas fired capacity is not carbon free and it employs only a fraction of the people who work at a nuclear plant, but more important, new gas fired electricity will be significantly more costly to consumers than the electricity from Indian Point.”
The study also said Indian Point is a “critical part” of the state’s clean energy mix generating about 25 percent of the electricity used in New York City and Westchester annually, approximately 10 percent of the state’s total electricity supply. Indian Point also produces about 24 percent of the state’s carbon-free electricity, preventing the emission of more than 8.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of more than 1.6 million cars.
