De Blasio urges New York to kill Astoria peaker plant plan
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The peaker plant site in Northern Astoria. Image courtesy of NRG
By David Brand
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday urged the state to kill a plan to convert an Astoria power plant into a natural gas-burning facility as New York seeks to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
NRG, one of the nation’s largest energy companies, is seeking state approval to overhaul the decades-old Astoria “peaker” plant, which generates extra electricity when power use surges in New York City, like during heat waves. The proposed project has encountered opposition from nine members of Congress, including Reps. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez and Grace Meng, as well as local elected officials.
De Blasio said the Astoria plan, as well as a similar project in Gowanus, moves the state further from its ambitious renewable energy goals.
“We must break our addiction to fossil fuels,” de Blasio said. “The best way to do that is to champion projects that put us on a path to clean energy and stand against projects that reinforce our addiction. Replacing the Astoria and Gowanus plants are the wrong projects.”
NRG says they will eventually turn the peaker plant into a hydrogen powerhouse in order to comply with the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which requires New York to generate 70 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, like solar and wind power, by 2030 and 100 percent from carbon-free sources by 2040.
Skeptical environmental advocates and lawmakers say the hydrogen power claim is far-fetched and designed to give NRG political cover to continue burning fossil fuels.
The corporation has launched a counter-offensive highlighting the incremental transition from oil to lower emissions natural gas to, eventually, renewable power.
“As New York transitions to renewable energy, New Yorkers deserve an opportunity to have cleaner air now,” said NRG’s vice president of development, Tom Atkins. “New Yorkers don’t need to choose between modern back-up electricity plants like our Astoria Replacement Project and renewable energy. New York needs both. New York City cannot afford to be short sighted and ignore the lessons learned last summer in California and just two months ago in Texas.”
Atkins said the project will lower electricity costs and facilitate the state’s climate goals by reducing emissions and easing the conversion to “carbon-free green hydrogen fuel.”
