Zambito reports that when Indian Point experienced an unplanned total shutdown in March, natural gas’ contribution to the grid increased of course, while energy from the available renewable sources like wind and solar continued to play a minor role.
Story Highlights:
- A single megawatt of electricity provides enough energy to supply the power of 800 to 1,000 homes.
- On March 18, natural gas hit 3581 megawatts, about 750 megawatts more than two days before shutdown.
- A host of factors determines the daily energy mix generated by various sources
- Lower Hudson Valley uses 66 percent of the state’s energy but gets 70 percent from fossil fuels
For more than two weeks, the Indian Point nuclear power plant failed to generate a single megawatt of power. And yet, in Westchester County and New York City, lights were burning, refrigerators were humming and phones were charging. Behind the scenes, though, something occurred that made all that possible. In the days after Indian Point powered down — a rare occurrence prompted by a malfunction in one reactor and scheduled spring maintenance in the other — the state’s electric grid pivoted. With an assist from the grid’s overseers, the state’s energy resources shifted in a way that could offer a preview of what’s to come in the years ahead when Indian Point is scheduled to shut down for good.
Natural gas’ contribution to the grid ticked upward, while renewable wind and solar power continued to play a lesser role, according to an analysis of minute-by-minute data compiled by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), the nonprofit charged with making sure the state has enough energy.
NATURAL GAS: Check the minute-by-minute data [here]
But, pro-nuclear advocates are not giving up on blocking natural gas:
The environmental group Riverkeeper plans to challenge a Maryland company’s efforts to operate a natural gas plant in New York because of its ties to a former top Cuomo Administration aide convicted of bribery, The Journal News/lohud.com has learned. The move threatens to upend the state’s energy future once the Indian Point nuclear power plant shuts down. Riverkeeper president Paul Gallay said evidence at the federal bribery conspiracy trial of former Cuomo aide Joseph Percoco showed that Competitive Power Ventures officials approved a low-show job for Percoco’s wife to improve the company’s chances of winning state backing for its Orange County plant. Gallay also said a challenge could include whether regulators properly considered the plant’s potential impact on the climate before giving CPV the go-ahead to build. The plant in Wawayanda is expected to be completed this year.
Riverkeeper has a history of challenging power plants that produce energy it believes harms the environment. Its decades-long legal battle with Entergy, Indian Point’s owner, contributed to the Louisiana company’s January 2017 announcement that it will shut down the Buchanan plant by 2021.
On one side are environmental groups like Riverkeeper and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater who want the shutdown to usher in an era of increased reliance on renewables -- wind, solar and water power -- to produce electricity.
On the other are those who say nuclear and gas power will need to stick around for a while to bridge the gap to a future when renewables become more reliable sources of energy. Among them is industry veteran Phil Van Horne, who heads BlueRock Energy, a Syracuse company that provides natural gas and renewable energy for businesses.
“If you turned Indian Point off and didn’t have the gas plants going, I have a hard time figuring out how you keep the lights on in New York City during a heat wave,” Van Horne said. “If you get a string of hot days, what are you gonna do?”
Karl Rabago, the executive director of the Pace Energy and Climate Center in White Plains, says natural gas plants will be needed after the Indian Point shutdown while the state pursues polices to improve energy efficiencies like LED lights in buildings. “The best thing we can do now is start building our clean energy capabilities,” Rabago said. “Forge the connections between upstate and downstate, between demand and supply, between today and tomorrow. It will take time, and we will use gas for a while.”
There is precedent for natural gas filling the gap left when a nuclear power plant shuts down.
After Entergy closed its Vermont Yankee Plant in 2014 natural gas-fired generation increased by 12 percent the following year, according to ISO-New England, the nonprofit that oversees that region’s electricity grid. The nonprofit also noted that the shutdown led to slight increase in carbon dioxide emissions.
New York's Energy Future
A December 2017 report by the non-profit New York Independent System Operator, a nonprofit that oversees the state's electricity grid, framed the debate.The debate over how to fill the Indian Point energy gap comes as the state pursues Gov. Cuomo’s goal of having the state rely on renewables for 50 percent of the state’s energy needs by 2030, while reducing gashouse emissions from coal and gas fired plants. There’s still a long way to go.
Renewables like wind, solar and hydro-power currently make up a slim portion of the state’s net electricity generation while nuclear power and natural gas lead the way, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And most of the renewable power comes from hydro-power generated by the Robert Moses Niagara plant, the largest hydroelectric plant east of the Rockies. But wind farms are sprouting up on the coast of Montauk and over the past year towns in the Hudson Valley and upstate New York have been flooded with proposals from out-of-state companies looking to build solar farms. Farmers are being offered from $1,000 to $3,000 an acre to turn over their property to solar companies.
Central Hudson Gas & Electric, the utility whose region includes the Hudson Valley, has received 85 applications for Community Distributed Generation projects, according to utility figures. The setup allows customers to purchase a share of the energy generated by solar farms for less than it would cost to put a rooftop array on their home. And the state recently green-lighted 26 large-scale renewable projects – 22 of which were for solar developments..... but what about the weather in New York?
The expansion has prompted some towns to pump the brakes while they enact laws limiting the size of proposals. The Town of Gardiner, for instance, enacted a law last year that keeps the size of farms to 20 acres or less. “We’re seeing a fair amount of grassroots resistance to solar,” Van Horne said. “People don’t like the way they look they feel that it’s a bad use of the land. Everyone who’s driving down the road would rather see meadows and trees than solar panels.”
Cypress Creek Renewables, a California company with some 50 solar projects in the pipeline in New York, this week announced a plan to include “pollinator habitats” that would benefit bees and butterflies and other insects vital to the state’s food supply with each of its arrays. "Of course there are those who have expressed some level of skepticism, which is understandable," said Cameron Bard, a former Cuomo Administration official who heads leads Cypress Creeks’ efforts in New York. "The onus is on us to demonstrate a project's local benefits and our commitment to the communities we serve."
Environmental advocates like Manna Jo Greene of Clearwater say communities need to take the long view. “For those folks they need to really understand that we can’t afford that luxury anymore,” Greene said. “As human beings who consume a lot of energy I don’t believe that we can afford to be put aesthetics ahead of function.”... but what about nuclear power ...?
State officials, meanwhile, have been busy working with local communities to ease the way for renewables. “Developing clean-energy resources is critically important to help mitigate the impact climate change is having on our environment and our communities, and we are committed to a process that helps the state meet its clean energy objectives,” said James Denn, a spokesman for the Public Service Commission....and that should include nuclear energy, the cleanest of all.
Ed. Note: When the power supplies comes up short in NYC, they will turn to New Jersey's nuclear power plant for help ...see: https://www.elp.com/articles/2019/04/nj-regulators-ok-nuclear-power-plant-subsidy-plan.html]
Managed by I2M Consulting, LLC