NEI struggling to prove NY needs Indian Point

June 10, 2015 | By Jaclyn Brandt

A new study looked at the economic impact of Entergy's two nuclear reactors at Indian Point Energy Center, and found that they provide a combined $1.6 billion to New York state's economy. The report -- "Economic Impacts of the Indian Point Energy Center," conducted by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) -- also found that the nuclear facility contributes around $2.5 billion to the nation's economy as a whole.

Indian Point Energy Center. Credit: Beyond My Ken/Wikimedia Commons

The local benefit for the counties surrounding the plant is around $1.3 billion, including $30 million in state and local property taxes and an annual payroll of about $140 million for the plant's nearly 1,000 employees.

"Indian Point greatly strengthens the local, regional and state economies through job creation, tax payments, and direct and secondary spending," said Richard Myers, NEI's vice president for policy development and planning, in a statement. "In many ways, Indian Point and its 1,000 employees provide outputs that are crucial for the well-being of the local communities and the state."

Total taxes, including those paid to local, state, and federal governments, comes out to around $340 million a year. The NEI report found that beyond the plant's 1,000 employees, there are also 5,400 indirect jobs supported by the plant in New York State, and another 5,300 outside New York. According to NEI, the plant also saves the area from carbon emissions another plant might provide.

"Indian Point is a safe, proven source of reliable, affordable, carbon-free electricity that New Yorkers can count on," Entergy Wholesale Commodities President Bill Mohl said in a statement. "The facility prevents the release of 8.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually -- the same as taking 1.6 million cars off the road. It produces about 10 percent of New York State's total electricity, enough to power 2 million homes, and it does so very reliably. Over the past 10 years, the unit has operated at a capacity factor over 93 percent. This reliability is above the nuclear industry's average and well above any other source of electricity."

The NEI study also found that over the last 10 years, Indian Point maintained a capacity factor (a measure of performance reliability) of 93 percent or greater; Indian Point generates about 25 percent of the electricity used in New York City and Westchester County annually, approximately 10 percent of the state's total electricity supply; and Indian Point also produces about 24 percent of the state's carbon-free electricity, preventing the emission of more than 8.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

The report comes more than a month after Indian Point had to temporarily be shut down due to a failed transformer that caused a fire and a spill of dialectric fluid, causing advocates to call for the plant's closure. In the past, the New York Department of Environmental Change has also called for a closure of the plant. Entergy continues to investigate a cause for the May 9 incident, as well as spearheading clean-up efforts, in coordination with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). But Entergy hopes the report helps keep the focus on the importance of the plant in the region.

"NEI's report underscores Indian Point's importance to the region and the state in terms of the substantial energy, environmental and economic benefits it provides," a spokesperson for Entergy told FierceEnergy. "The study confirms Indian Point's role extends beyond its contribution to New York's energy mix and its loss would have wide-spread implications. The plants generate more than $1 billion in economic activity annually, support thousands of jobs statewide, and are critical to maintaining grid reliability, fuel diversity, and improving air quality by mitigating millions of tons of carbon emissions annually. These attributes would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace with any other available energy resource."

For more:
- download the report
- read this article

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/nei-struggling-prove-ny-needs-indian-point/2015-06-10