EnviroPolitics Blog

Controversial nuke plant near NYC is closing

By Michael Hill, Associated Press

BUCHANAN, N.Y. (AP) — Indian Point will permanently stop producing nuclear power Friday, capping a decades-long battle over a key source of electricity in the heart of New York City’s suburbs that opponents have called a threat to millions living in the densely packed region.

The retirement of the Indian Point Energy Center along the Hudson River could increase New York’s short-term reliance on natural gas plants, despite the state’s goal of reducing carbon emissions. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others who fought for its shutdown argue any benefits from the plant are eclipsed by the nightmare prospect of a major nuclear accident or a terror strike 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the city.

“There are 20 million people living within 50 miles of Indian Point and there is no way to evacuate them in case of a radiological release. And the risk of that is quite real,” said Paul Gallay, president of the environmental group Riverkeeper.

The actual shutdown will be straightforward: a control room operator for Indian Point’s Unit 3 will push a red button to shut down the reactor Friday night. It will complete a contentious closing of the plant’s two reactors years in the making.

The Unit 2 reactor shut down exactly a year ago under a 2017 agreement among the Cuomo administration, Riverkeeper and the plant’s operator, Entergy Corp. Unit 3′s shutdown under the same agreement paves the way for a decommissioning that is projected to cost $2.3 billion and take at least 12 years. The tall twin domes visible from the river will eventually be demolished.

The two reactors, which went online two years apart in the mid-’70s, had generated about a quarter of the electricity used in New York City and the lower Hudson Valley.

They also generated controversy.

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Rutgers receives $1M from NJ for the creation of State Policy Lab

The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy will house the new State Policy Lab that is being funded with $1 million from the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education.

By Victoria Yeasky, The Daily Targum

In New Jersey political news today, Rutgers University has received $1 million from the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to create The State Policy Lab, which will be a space where scholars, community members, and policy experts can work to solve issues facing New Jersey, according to an article from Rutgers Today.

The lab will be housed in the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and will be managed alongside the Rutgers—Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration. It is being funded through Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D-N.J.) 2021 state budget.

“Rutgers—New Brunswick and its Bloustein School have always focused on serving the people of New Jersey,” said Rutgers—New Brunswick Chancellor Christopher J. Molloy. “We are proud to collaborate with the state on this partnership, which provides another important venue by which our world-class research will help enhance the quality of life in the Garden State.”

Some of the lab’s main purposes involve giving policymakers enhanced access to research on state and local governance and creating data modeling for policy recommendations that will allow them to test various budgeting and legislative situations, according to the article. Additionally, the lab will help build coalitions across various groups in support of evidence-based policy initiatives.

“We look forward to providing our expertise with policy research, big data analytics and community engagement (toward) evidence-based decision-making in critical areas of policy and operations within the state of New Jersey,” said Piyushimita (Vonu) Thakuriah, dean of the Bloustein School. “I am particularly excited to be working with the School of Public Affairs and Administration in Rutgers—Newark and a wider network of academic and policy collaborators throughout the University (as well as)statewide, nationally and even internationally to solve grand policy challenges.”

The lab will use an equity framework when examining policies and programs with the aim of determining improvements that will benefit all residents, specifically those who are from low-income backgrounds or have been historically disadvantaged, according to the article.

Other partners of The State Policy Lab will include the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers—New Brunswick and the Cornwall Center at Rutgers—Newark as well as the Walter Rand Institute and the Center for Urban Research & Education, both at Rutgers—Camden.

The Rutgers Law School Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity, Kean University and New Jersey Institute of Technology will also be involved.

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Any power connection here, do you think?

Co-owners of New Jersey nuclear plants donated $37K to Murphy as BPU weighed subsidies

By POLITICO’s Sam Sutton

Five months before Exelon was awarded nearly $1 billion in subsidies to keep its South Jersey nuclear power plants afloat, more than two dozen company executives and employees donated more than $37,000 to Gov. Phil Murphy’s reelection campaign.

The contributions, which ranged from $500 to $4,800 and included employees from Exelon as well as subsidiaries Pepco and Atlantic City Electric, were made between Dec. 4 and Dec. 9, 2020, according to filings with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Most of the donors live out of state and most had never before contributed to a New Jersey campaign.

The contributions were made through a virtual fundraising event for the governor in December.

In a statement, Exelon spokesperson Bill Gibbons said that Murphy “shares many of our priorities with respect to addressing the climate crisis.”

Related energy news story:
PSEG tried to give $55K to Norcross-linked ‘dark-money’ group

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Arguments today in New Jersey’s anti-pipeline Supreme Court case

Pipes used in the oil business sit in a yard Vernon Mount Vernon, Ohio. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

By Ellen M. Gilmer, Bloomberg Law

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a case pitting states’ rights advocates against energy companies.

New Jersey and backers of the $1 billion PennEast natural gas pipeline face off over developers’ effort to seize state land along the project’s route.

It’s the latest in a series of pipeline cases to reach the Supreme Court in the past year, an outgrowth of sweeping litigation surrounding a nationwide expansion of oil and gas infrastructure over the past decade. The justices heard an Atlantic Coast pipeline case a year ago, and fielded a flurry of filings involving Keystone XL last summer.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s Paul Clement, a former solicitor general and powerhouse Supreme Court advocate who successfully argued the Atlantic Coast case, represents PennEast. The Biden administration is maintaining Trump-era support for PennEast’s arguments, a decision that disappointed many pipeline opponents.

Some justices might find it challenging to weigh New Jersey’s asserted state property rights against pipeline lawyers’ claims of broad industry impacts in the case, University of Minnesota energy law professor Alexandra Klass said.

“It tees up that issue directly in a way that some of these other cases have not,” she said. “Here is a situation where you have a state who is opposed to this particular pipeline and has actual land, saying a private party can’t use delegated eminent domain authority to take state land.”

Backed by Enbridge Inc., Southern Co., and other companies, PennEast would stretch 116 miles across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Construction hasn’t started, and PennEast faces other permitting and legal hurdles even if it prevails at the Supreme Court.

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Waste Management raises guidance as pandemic recovery accelerates, predicts possible labor headwind

Pricing and the Advanced Disposal acquisition were key first-quarter boosts. Executives also announced a new chief sustainability officer and discussed Biden policy effects.

By Cole Rosengren , Waste Dive

Waste Management took what executives and analysts described as a rare step of raising guidance after the first quarter, due to ongoing pandemic recovery trends and higher projected benefits from the Advanced Disposal Services acquisition.

Annual revenue is now expected to be up by 12.5% to 13%, compared to original guidance of 10.75% to 11.25%, as local economic activity continues to rebound.

“Volumes really have not recovered fully, especially in those three high margin lines of business – commercial, landfill and industrial,” said CEO Jim Fish during the company’s Tuesday earnings call. “Pricing, and landfill pricing in particular, we think is a strength for the quarter and will continue to be in the next couple of quarters.”

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Recovery update

Collection and disposal volumes were down 2.3% year over year, an improvement from a 2.7% decline in the fourth quarter. Executives said most of the volume headwinds were offset by pricing and yield increases.
Chief Operating Officer John Morris reported an estimated 72% of the commercial yards lost due to the pandemic have now been recovered and net new business turned positive in the quarter.
Waste Management also reported its highest residential yield since 2008 at 4.2%, as the company continues renegotiating contracts to more favorable terms. This happened even as pricing indexes used in some contracts declined, but Fish said a potential rise in inflation could boost those arrangements in the future.

After passing the anniversary of initial pandemic effects on first quarter earnings in 2020, Waste Management is sticking with its bullish outlook as economic activity expands around the country.

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