Deal To Close Indian Point Power Plant Officially Announced
The rumors are true, plans to close the Indian Point Power Plant were officially announced.
Monday morning, Entergy, the company that runs the northern Westchester plant, announced that the power plant will close in 2020-2021.
The shutdown is part of a settlement with New York State to drop legal challenges and support renewal of the operating licenses for Indian Point, officials say.
"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,” Bill Mohl, president of Entergy Wholesale Commodities stated. “In addition, we foresee continuing costs for license renewal beyond the more than $200 million and 10 years we have already invested,"
Under the agreement with the state, Indian Point Unit 2 will shut down by April 30, 2020 and Unit 3 by April 30, 2021.
Entergy was seeking a 20-year renewal to their lease since 2007, but faced a number of hurdles. Including an investigation into reports that “radioactive tritium-contaminated water” leaked into the groundwater.
Entegry purchased the Indian Point Power Plant 15 years ago. The shutdown will complete Entergy's exit from its merchant power business.
"We thank our nearly 1,000 dedicated employees for operating a world-class nuclear power generating facility at top levels of safety, security and reliability, as well as the community for supporting us," said Leo Denault, Entergy's chairman and chief executive officer. "We are committed to treating our employees fairly and will help those interested in other opportunities to relocate within the Entergy system."
Strategies on how to replace the lost energy weren’t announced, however there are numerous potential renewable options.
Plans for what to do with the property also weren’t announced, although this idea sounds pretty fun!
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