Friday, May 23, 2008

CUOMO SHOCKS ENTERGY EXECS


Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has asked the Public Service Commission to reject the plan of Entergy Corp to dice up the Northeast Nuclear Division into a stand-alone company. The plan would render the separated entity the ability to massage stock holder numbers while limiting the level of accountability to the consumer.

This is a plan aimed solely at enriching the CEOs at a more accelerated rate than before with the additional kilowatt cost burden on the northeast residents.

Based in New Orleans, Entergy plans to separate five nuclear plants from the rest of the energy conglomerate. While keeping a 50% stake in the company, they would offer the other half to its shareholders. The spin-off of the NE Division would also enable Entergy to avoid paying over $350 million to the New York Power Authority.

Mind you, there have been repeated mistakes, mishaps and technical failures at two of their facilities and the proximity of Indian Point to the NYC metropolitan area provides the greatest terrorist target in the northeast. The two planes that hit the WTC flew south along the Hudson River.

I made the case on the council floor back in 2003, when Pataki was to reinstate the temporary operating license, to begin the shutdown and refurbishing of the plant, only to be undermined by misleading Entergy letters to other councilmen. The memorializing resolution failed.

Now AG Cuomo is on the same page; citing the same safety issues as well as the easy target status of the plant’s location. The contamination radius of 50 miles, if a plane were to land in the cooling pools at the Indian Point plant, would extend beyond Manhattan. The exodus of people to our region and the economic disaster worldwide would end the comfortable life we think we have now.

I applaud Andrew Cuomo for taking such a daring stand against a powerful lobby and advocating for our safety and our wallets.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So the execs want more in their pocket at the expense of us poor slobs paying the bills...whats new?

T

Anonymous said...

I remember the River Keeper and Scenic Hudson push for the Indian Point operating permit to expire.

I was worried about energy prices going up as a result of such a shutdown, but how could I have known prices would skyrocket anyway.

And the $350 million, does that offset costs? Would the taxpayer be asked to subsidize the power authority further? No more gifts for the corporations.

Anonymous said...

I think Andrew will be the next target of some slanderous attack now that he has taken a stand on something that helps the middle-class consumer.
Be ready for the Energy companies to attempt what the Banking industry did to Spitzer.

Mike Madsen said...

I had my arse handed to me when I pushed for the Indian Point Power Plant to be converted back in 2003.

With environmental groups and homeland security advocates asking local municipalities to petition Pataki, I thought Kingston residents would be concerned with the proximity. The Council thought otherwise.

So I pick and chose my fights with a little more selectivity. Whats winable and whats a waste of time. I just wish the others felt the same way.