By Susan Arbetter City of Albany UPDATED 7:41 PM ET Apr. 30, 2021 PUBLISHED 6:29 PM ET Apr. 30, 2021 PUBLISHED 6:29 PM EDT Apr. 30, 2021
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The last Indian Point nuclear reactor, located 25 miles north of midtown Manhattan, will stop making nuclear power at 11 p.m. Friday.
At the height of its capacity, the 60-year-old Westchester County plant provided about 25 percent of New York City’s power. But its age, proximity to a population center, reduced revenues and political pressure forced Indian Point’s owner, Entergy, to enter into a negotiated agreement to close the facility with New York state and the environmental group Riverkeeper.
Under the 2017 agreement, Unit 2 was shut down last year. Unit 3 is legally obligated to shut down Friday.
The power station on the banks of the Hudson has no place in the state’s plans switch to renewables but critics say in the short term it means lost jobs and increased emissions
End of an era: closure of nuclear plant is pointer for New York s energy future msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
arrow View of the containment boom on the Hudson River outside of the Indian Point Energy Center, May 10th, 2015. Governor Cuomo s office
After 58 years operating off the Hudson River in Buchanan, New York, the final nuclear unit at Indian Point closes on Friday at 11 p.m.
Some environmentalists celebrated the closure, arguing the plant’s proximity to New York City makes it unsafe and that climate change can be tackled without this atomic brand of carbon-free electricity source. But its closure has sinister immediate implications: climate change-causing fossil fuels will likely replace that nuclear energy in the near term.
Already, gas-fired generators powered 40% of the state’s power last year, up from 36% the year prior, as a result of Unit 2’s closure, the NY Times reported. That will continue until more renewable projects and energy efficiency measures can get up and running.
North Country Public Radio
While many environmental groups cheer the policy, some oppose what they call a costly and unnecessary investment in nuclear power.
(Provided photo â David Sommerstein / North Country Public Radio) In 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo set one of the country’s most ambitious green energy goals when he signed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. “Climate change is an undeniable scientific fact, period. To deny climate change is to deny reality,” Cuomo said at the signing ceremony. The law created a Climate Action Council to steer policy and help meet the state’s goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2040. How that goal will be reached remains an open question.