BUCHANAN – Governor Cuomo
announce Monday that the Indian Point nuclear power plants are going to
close down by April 2021.
Entergy h as agreed to end all operations at the facility, with plans
to shut down unit 2 as early as April 2020 and unit 3 in April 2021.
“For 15 years, I have been deeply concerned by the continuing safety
violations at Indian Point, especially given its location in the largest
and most densely populated metropolitan region in the country,”
Cuomo said.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman called the closure “a major
victory for the health and safety of millions of New Yorkers, and will
help kick-start the state’s clean energy future.”
Riverkeeper President Paul Galley said the agreement “is a win for
the safety of our communities and the health of the Hudson River and the
people of New York.”
As part of the deal, the state will make annual inspections of the plant
related to key operational, regulatory and environmental matters. Entergy
will transfer used fuel to protective storage in “dry casks.”
The state Public Service Commission’s Indian Point Contingency Plan
and other planning efforts have ensured that more than adequate power
resources are able to come online by 2021 to ensure reliability of the
power grid.
Entergy will submit a six-year license application to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. Entergy, the state and other organizations will terminate
litigation against one another.
Jobs will be protected under the closure plan with continued employment
throughout the closure process and under the terms of its agreement with
the state and Entergy has committed to offer plant employees new jobs
at other facilities. Through the New York State Energy Research and Development
Agency, the state will offer any worker re-trainings and new skills in
renewable technologies like solar and wind.
The agreement also says there will be sufficient replacement power to
cover the 2,000 megawatts of electricity generated by Indian Point. Currently
transmission upgrades and efficiency measures totaling over 700 megawatts
are already in service. Several generation sources are also fully permitted
and readily available to come online by 2021, after the plant’s
closure, including clean, renewable hydropower able to replace up to 1,000
megawatts of power, the agreement said.
The agreement also allows for “ample time to plan for and mitigate
impacts to local tax revenue.” Entergy’s PILOTs – payments-in-lieu-of-taxes
to local governments and school districts will continue through 2021,
before gradually stepping down at a negotiated level following the shutdown.
