New York state is going to run out of power in a few years. That may be something of an overstatement, but not by much. In an interesting article in the NY Post, Jonathan Lesser explains in detail what will happen when the Indian Point nuclear power plant shuts down in three years. Because Indian Point is in the far northern suburbs of New York City, governor Cuomo conducted a campaign to get it to close. It did not matter that the plant produced the bulk of the power used in the New York metro area with no pollution and at a reasonable cost. Cuomo wanted it shut down, and after years of trying, he got his way.
The problem is that New York does not have another source of power at a reasonable price to replace Indian Point. There are two natural gas plants planned or under construction, but the state is delaying approvals that would allow natural gas pipelines to be built to deliver the fuel for those plants. Renewable will provide some power, but only at high prices and in small quantities. Power can be purchased from Canada, but that will be very expensive. The likely result is that once the Indian Point plant shuts down, the cost of electricity will skyrocket.
New York already has an unfriendly business environment. The remaining facilities that require high power usage will become uncompetitive. Thousands or hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost. More people will leave the state. It's a slow march to economic suicide. And governor Cuomo? He's busy getting ready to run for president so he can do for the country what he has done for NY.
The problem is that New York does not have another source of power at a reasonable price to replace Indian Point. There are two natural gas plants planned or under construction, but the state is delaying approvals that would allow natural gas pipelines to be built to deliver the fuel for those plants. Renewable will provide some power, but only at high prices and in small quantities. Power can be purchased from Canada, but that will be very expensive. The likely result is that once the Indian Point plant shuts down, the cost of electricity will skyrocket.
New York already has an unfriendly business environment. The remaining facilities that require high power usage will become uncompetitive. Thousands or hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost. More people will leave the state. It's a slow march to economic suicide. And governor Cuomo? He's busy getting ready to run for president so he can do for the country what he has done for NY.
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