As California goes, so goes New York

Power generation, as illustrated by Green Peace

Following on the heels of California's shutting down its sources of nuclear-produced energy, New York Governor Cuomo yesterday announced that his "fifteen-year battle" to shut down Indian Point by 2021 has been won.

There are, as usual, some problems with this, starting with the fact that Indian Point supplies 25% of New York City and Westchester County's electricity, and no replacement will be available in four years, if ever. The Champlain-Hudson Power Express, a powerline project that's designed to bring hydropower from Quebec to the city and finally approved in 2013 after years of battle, is (a) expected to meet only 10% of the city's energy needs and (b) has yet to break ground, let alone be completed, due to fierce opposition by green energy types, labor unions, and business groups worried about the huge spike in electricity costs (already second highest in the nation, behind only Hawaii). 

That 2013 approval estimated that construction would take 3 1/2 years, so the project is already behind schedule before it's begun, and their is no assurance - quite the contrary, in fact - that the many lawsuits that have kept in tied up in court will themselves be completed by Indian Point shutdown date.

So what will replace the plant's production? Just as in California, Cuomo expects wind and solar to do it. It's unfortunate that no such facilities exist, and just as important, no transmission lines are available to transport this imaginary energy from non-existent, mythical windmill factories. And if buried pipelines stir up the ire of those individuals and towns situated near their path, huge overhead towers looming overhead will be met with even harder opposition. Think cellular towers, with their deadly energy waves, and multiply that a thousand-fold. For that matter, you may want to reflect on Greenwich's ability to stop a single substation on Railroad and multiply that by the hundreds that will be needed along a transmission line's route. 

(Ironically, one of the reasons  nuclear plants operators across the country are giving up their multi-hundred-million dollar battles to remain open is that fracking has produced a huge new supply of natural gas, which has dramatically cut the cost of energy nationwide - Cuomo has banned fracking in New York.)

I really don't care that NYC wants to shut down; it might even be good for CT real estate, were it not for our state's greens' efforts to darken our own state. Texas, here we come.