Indian Point Power Plant

The New York Department of Public Service disclosed that a special work group met for the first time last week to discuss its responsibilities associated with assuring a seamless transition as the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant proceeds with its plans to shut down in four years.

The Indian Point Closure Task Force was established earlier this year and charged with identifying initiatives to help the local community prepare for the facility to cease commercial operations by 2021. Indian Point's owner, Entergy Corporation, had reached an agreement with the state in January to close the facility's two remaining reactors by April of 2021, after years of unplanned outages and numerous citations for safety violations.

Among the most important goals for the 23-member task force is ascertaining ways to respond to potentially adverse local tax and workforce impacts while closing the plant in a safe and responsible manner. According to the work group, its uppermost objective is to provide the region a "prosperous and sustainable" future both during and after decommissioning of the facility.

The task force said that as an initial step thereto, it intends to retain the services of an outside consultant to assist in (1) evaluating site reuse and reutilization options, (2) identifying new local economic development and workforce retraining opportunities, and (3) advocating for appropriate decommissioning timelines.

Although the group had not convened a formal meeting before last week, it nevertheless had been actively addressing several issues related to its Indian Point work. They included finalizing its operating authority and scope of operation within the state budget and succeeding in having a further $15 million added to New York's Power Plant Cessation Mitigation Fund, beginning in 2020. The task force pledged to submit a detailed annual report starting on April 30, 2018, and each year thereafter through 2023.