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The controversial Indian Point nuclear plant near New York will close in 2021, a casualty of low energy prices and relentless criticism by environmentalists, the power company announced Monday.
Under an agreement with New York State, Entergy plans to shut down one of the two operating units at Indian Point by April 30, 2020, and the second unit will close a year after that.
Entergy attributed the decision to close the decades-old plant to shifting energy economics. Among the changes, power prices fell as much as 45 percent due to natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation in New York and Pennsylvania, part of the American shale boom.
"Key considerations in our decision to shut down Indian Point ahead of schedule include sustained low current and projected wholesale energy prices that have reduced revenues, as well as increased operating costs," said Bill Mohl, president of Entergy wholesale commodities.
Entergy said it would look for other opportunities for the 1,000 workers employed at Indian Point.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and environmentalists applauded the news since the plant, located within 30 miles of New York, has long been a concern due to safety problems and worries that an accident at the aging facility could affect some 20 million people.
Lower energy prices cited by the article have not been reflected in customer electricity bills. Indian Point supplies 30% of New York's power, so if the post-Indian point power supply drops by the same amount the high prices New Yorkers currently pay per kwh will climb even higher.
(Score: 5, Informative) by rcamera on Wednesday January 11 2017, @06:31PM
they mentioned on the local news that we're currently OVER capacity in the area based on the addition of non-nuclear-renewable over the past decade, along with energy efficiency improvements - especially in the transmission area. i'd love to see that "overcapacity" reflected in my electric bill, but that's not how that works (1/4 of my electric bill is the flat-rate "service hook-up charge" at this point anyway).
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(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Wednesday January 11 2017, @07:03PM
Interesting factual clarifications. More nuance does help make them sound much more reasonable.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Thursday January 12 2017, @02:47PM
The EOL is where anti-nuclear environmentalist politics have done real harm. There are no newer models of nuclear plant in the US because it's impossible to build them anymore. Republicans have a good excuse: their constituents don't like them, and they don't care if coal pollutes. Democrats trying to save the planet aren't necessarily killing nuclear, but for it to succeed they would need to be actively supporting it. Nobody else will.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?