The James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant remains on schedule for permanent shutdown in January 2017, despite an announcement this week that the New York state Senate’s new budget plan includes $100 million meant to expedite access to tax credits for renewable energy sources.
The New York Public Service Commission in February announced a “rescue plan” that would allow for bridge funding at FitzPatrick leading up to the rollout of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard, which would make nuclear power sources eligible for the same tax credits available to solar and wind sources. The Cuomo administration has set the goal of sourcing 50 percent of New York’s power with clean, renewable energy by 2030.
The Senate budget plan “would provide immediate support for FitzPatrick, helping to make the continued operation of the plant more appealing to Entergy, the plant’s current owner, or a potential new operator,” according to a press release Monday from New York state Sen. Patty Ritchie.
Meanwhile the state Assembly budget bill does not currently include similar funding, and negotiations are ongoing. The state budget is due for approval April 1.
Power provider Entergy, the FitzPatrick plant’s owner, said in a statement Tuesday that it is moving forward with shutdown, regardless. Its statement is in line with company responses to earlier proposals to keep the plant open.
“While we support the implementation of public policy initiatives, including the Clean Energy Standard, that value the carbon-free electricity generated by the state’s nuclear power plants, these efforts cannot impact the planned closure of the FitzPatrick facility,” spokeswoman Tammy Holden said by email. “There are still too many unknowns to both of these proposals, including the timeline, how the Clean Energy Standard will be implemented, what the net benefit will be for the plants that can participate and when the program will be fully implemented.”
In the press release, Ritchie stressed the importance of FitzPatrick to Oswego County and the state as a whole.
“In addition to providing jobs for more than 600 people in our region, the plant also has a roughly $500 million impact on our local economy annually,” Ritchie said in the statement. “By including $100 million in the Senate’s spending plan to provide support for nuclear power, we’re sending a clear message of support for FitzPatrick, and its dedicated workers.”
Cuomo’s tentative goal is to enable access to the nuclear tax credits by 2017. Depending on negotiations, the rescue plan could be available as early as June.
Entergy has claimed that FitzPatrick’s shutdown will save the company as much as $275 million through 2020. The company shuttered its Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in 2014 and plans to close its Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts no later than June 2019.
