Community Corner

LIPA to Shutter Far Rockaway Power Plant

Move will save customers money and free up the space for development, authority said.

The Long Island Power Authority announced on Thursday that it will seek to close its power plant in Far Rockaway by 2013, part of a move that it says will save its customers about $76 million through 2015.

LIPA, in a partnership with National Grid, said it would try to close the Far Rockaway plant as well as one in Glenwood Landing, both of which are the least used facilities in the fleet and account for less than 2 percent of LIPA’s total energy requirements, the state authority said. The Far Rockaway plant, which opened in 1953, has one unit, is fueled by natural gas and capable of producing 100 megawatts of electricity. It is located at 1425 Bay 24th St.

“We are continuing to transition our power generation supply to newer and more efficient generation, modernizing the electric system and lowering costs to our customers,” said Paul DeCotis, vice president of power markets for LIPA. “Once taken out of service, the plant sites will be remediated and available for future new development opportunities consistent with local zoning and community needs.”

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The move is awaiting approval from the LIPA board of trustees, who will meet on June 23 at the OMNI Teleconference Center in Uniondale.

LIPA has to pay for the plants whether they are used or not, it said, so they are available when needed to meet statewide and local system reliability requirements.

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James Flannery, director of power plant operations for National Grid, said that dismantling the plants is the only practical option for the facilities, since they are “uneconomic.”

The decommissioning and demolition of the sites by National Grid is expected to take 12 to 24 months to complete and will include an environmental assessment, according to LIPA.

DeCotis said that displaced employees will be relocated to other Long Island plants.

The shuttering of the plants will apparently reduce the amount of carbon dioxide annually on Long Island by 95,000-143,000 tons, which LIPA says is equivalent to removing 16,000-24,000 cars off the road. It also says that 50 to 90 tons of nitrogen oxide, the precursor to smog, will be reduced.

For nearby residents in Far Rockaway, LIPA said that property taxes would be reduced accordingly to reflect lower property values. National Grid will meet with school and county officials to discuss the impact of property tax reductions, it said.


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