Energy
New York’s Attempt To Shutter A $900 Million Gas Plant Last-Minute Failed Miserably
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A $900 million New York natural gas plant will begin producing energy for the state after a judge overruled a decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to close the plant indefinitely, according to the oil and gas interest group American Petroleum Institute (API).
The DEC notified Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) on Aug. 1 that the air permit needed for the company’s New York plant to operate would not be renewed because a change in regulation reclassified the plant under a new licensing bracket. CPV was forced to close the plant four days before it was scheduled to open.
“Revisions of the applicable regulations now require a Clean Air Act Title V permit to operate this type of facility. And this facility has not submitted an application for nor has been granted this type of permit,” DEC spokeswoman Erica Ringewald told WAMC Northeast.
CPV sued the state and the court granted the power company relief Wednesday, allowing it to restart operations at the plant while the lawsuit is settled in court. The court ruled on the grounds that New York had not acted fairly in failing to notify the company that its license would not be renewed nor that it would need to apply for a different permit.
“Today, New York consumers — including low-income families and seniors — are a step closer to overcoming Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo’s misguided energy policies,” API’s New York executive director Karen Moreau said in a statement. “[CPV’s] power plant will deliver much needed supplies of additional affordable electricity to New York powered by clean natural gas.”
New York residents pay some of the highest energy prices in the U.S., largely due to environmental policies that restrict the supply of fossil fuels to the region. A May report by the Consumer Energy Alliance found that New Yorkers paid 44 percent more than the national average for energy in 2017, despite the state neighboring the natural gas-rich state of Pennsylvania.
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