State officials yesterday ordered Con Ed to figure out how New Yorkers will survive without electricity from the twin Indian Point nuclear plants.
Con Ed and the New York Power Authority — which sells power to city government — were told by the state Public Service Commission to draw up a contingency plan for the plants’ shutdown.
The Indian Point nukes, which can produce 20 percent to 25 percent of New York City’s electricity needs, sit atop earthquake fault lines.
Indian Point’s owner insists the plants are safe, but Gov. Cuomo worries that there’s no way to evacuate the millions of people who’d be endangered in a crisis like the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuke disaster in Japan.
Indian Point opponents said the PSC’s order is key to their goal of closing down the plants, on the Hudson River about 30 miles north of New York City.
“They need to put plans in place and make sure the replacement power is there,” said Phillip Musegaas of Riverkeeper, an environmental group that wants the plants shuttered.
“This really indicates Gov. Cuomo is serious about closing Indian Point,” Musegaas said. “It’s showing that he’s taking the steps necessary to make the transition. We are happy about it.”
Entergy, the owner of Indian Point, said it also welcomed the move. “We are pleased to see the PSC acknowledge Indian Point is a major generator of power and an important part of New York’s energy infrastructure,” said spokesman Jerry Nappi.
Closing the plants would create the potential of summertime blackouts in a region stretching from the Catskills to Long Island, said a report in September by the New York Independent System Operator, which oversees the state’s power grid.
Losing the plants is only part of the problem, the ISO said. Another issue is a current lack of power lines to bring in outside electricity to replace Indian Point’s production of 2,000 megawatts.
At least one project to replace some of Indian Point’s output is already in the regulatory pipeline.
The PSC is expected to decide in the coming months on the Champlain-Hudson Power Express, which would bring electricity from Quebec to New York City through a cable that would run mostly beneath Lake Champlain and the Hudson River.
State officials believe that other projects under discussion could provide more than enough power to replace the nukes.
Indian Point’s two plants each have a license from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. One expires late next year; the other expires in 2015. Entergy hopes the feds will renew both licenses for another 20 years.
But even if that happens, Cuomo could shut the plants by denying Entergy a water-quality permit on the grounds that its cooling system endangers Hudson River fish and wildlife.