State proposes Indian Point shutdown in warm months to protect fish

Scott Waldman

ALBANY—The state has proposed shutting down the Indian Point nuclear plant for up to three months a year to protect fish in the Hudson River.

Indian Point provides 25 percent of New York City's annual power needs. The shutdown proposed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, described in a document posted on its website, would occur from May 10 to Aug. 10, during the highest period of electric demand. The plan is not final and could be revised, or combined with other plans to lessen Indian Point's fish kills.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has publicly stated his desire to permanently close Indian Point, located on the banks of the Hudson River in Westchester County, for more than a decade. The state recently approved the restarting of a natural gas-fired power plant in the lower Hudson Valley, the Danskammer Generating Station, that had once been slated for demolition and could replace some of the production lost at Indian Point.

Indian Point produces 2,000 megawatts of power a year, enough for about two million homes; Danskammer would produce 530 megawatts.

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