TESTIMONY OF
John T. Evers
The Business Council of New York State, Inc.
New York City Council
Committee
on Environmental Protection
February 28, 2003
Mr.
Chairman, distinguished members of the city council thank you for inviting
us to appear before you today.
The Business
Council of New York State, Inc. strongly supports the continued operation
of the Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County. Simply stated,
the electricity that Indian Point produces is absolutely vital to sustain
the current power needs of New York City. Closing Indian Point would eliminate
an essential supply of power, doing irreversible harm to efforts to restore
the city's and state's economy.
There is
a growing and dangerous gap between the energy we have and what we need.
A study in early 2002 by our research affiliate, The Public Policy Institute,
concluded that New York State must add at least a dozen new power plants
with at least 9,200 megawatts of generating capacity within the next
five years to avoid the risk of serious economic damage from power
shortages.
The New York
Independent System Operator, which is responsible for assuring reliable
supplies of electricity for the state, reached similar conclusions, saying
New York City alone needs as much as 3,000 megawatts of new generating
capacity by 2005. Other business and energy-related groups have concurred
with these projections.
Indian Point
Energy Center supplies nearly 2,000 megawatts to the grid, approximately
20 percent of the electricity used in the New York City area.
What would
happen if Indian Point were to close? Our already-high energy costs
would rise, with price spikes hitting the downstate regions excessively
hard. Such price increases would have the greatest impact on New York
City's lower-income residents-those who can least afford them.
For consumers,
power blackouts mean more than the inconvenience of lights going out.
Lost refrigeration means food goes bad. Lost air conditioning during a
heat wave can jeopardize health, especially for the old and infirm. At
night, loss of lights can jeopardize safety in homes and businesses.
The costs
to business from interrupted power supplies would be incalculable. We
need only to look to California during their power blackouts to find the
toll to business—in lost production, damaged equipment and effect
on employees—is unacceptable.
New York
City requires a reliable and reasonably priced energy supply. If power
is too scarce or too costly, businesses will be reluctant to invest here,
and the ones that are here could leave.
Those trying
to close Indian Point raise a false argument that the 2,000 megawatts
could be replaced by "importing" power from outside the state. That is
just not factual. Constraints in the state's transmission system, particularly
the parts that serve Southeastern New York, severely limit the amount
of power that can be brought in from elsewhere.
It is also
a fallacy that we could conserve enough power to make up for Indian Point's
loss of almost 2,000 megawatts in a single momentary instance. Likewise,
converting Indian Point to a gas-fired plant would require overcoming
the intense local opposition to building a whole new gas pipeline through
the Hudson Valley, and then 10 years to complete the conversion. A pipeline
that has been stalled in the approval process. How do we replace Indian
Point's power during that time?
The recently
released draft James Lee Witt report on Indian Point has also been used
to whip up opposition to the operators of the plant without recourse to
a thorough review of all the facts. The Business Council has submitted
testimony to the James Lee Witt Associates stating that Entergy Nuclear
Northeast has done everything in its power to assure the security and
safety at the plant and they are complying with Nuclear Regulatory Commission
and Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements and mandates. They
have welcomed the opportunity to discuss this with the Witt Associates.
As we know
all too well, the threat of terrorist attacks anywhere in this city, in
this state and in this country, require us to have better planning at
all levels. Our emergency response networks must be preparing for many
contingencies that two years ago were unthinkable. Whether Indian Point
is operating or not, the plant still requires emergency plans. The risk
is not putting together plans and we urge local, state and federal officials
to do this.
The risks
of a terrorist attack concern all of us. But the only way to address the
risks is through solid planning. The benefits are very real and extremely
necessary.
I hope you
will keep these thoughts in mind when this committee and the City Council
ponders its position on Indian Point. Thank you.
