Port Jeff Plant Still in Limbo After Recent LIPA Decision

A decision late last month by Long Island Power Authority staff to move forward in attempting to build a 700mW plant in Yaphank keeps the status of the Port Jefferson plant in limbo. On one hand, it keeps the door open to repowering the Port Jefferson plant. But on the other, the decision to create such a large plant may eliminate the need to repower Port Jefferson altogether.

While LIPA narrowed down over 45 applicants to Caithness' Yaphank facility last month, going with the only other alternative remaining – a smaller plant in Shoreham proposed by J-Power – would have squashed any chance altogether of repowering the Port Jeff plant anytime soon, according to one LIPA executive.

"The larger Caithness facility would allow us to take Port Jefferson offline, and still meet the requirements necessary in the meantime to meet federal and state reliability standards," said Paul Decotis, vice president of power markets with LIPA. "Had we not selected Caithness, we would have been unable to repower Port Jefferson. We wouldn't be able to take it offline." 

J-Power's plant called for 377mW, just over half of the 706mW facility ultimately chosen by LIPA staff. 

A seven-page letter from LIPA CEO John McMahon to the trustees dated July 25 notes that Caithness' 706mW capacity would provide "added flexibility in assessing and addressing future system needs."

Officials are hoping the facility – which will be sited next to an existing 326mW plant run by Caithness – will be open by 2018.

In the meantime, Decotis said on Tuesday, LIPA will remain open in exploring the feasibility of repowering Port Jeff and/or E.F. Barrett in Hempstead. While Port Jeff would have to be shut down while it's remediated and rebuilt, Decotis said, Barrett's property is big enough to allow the building of a separate facility while the existing plant remains in use.

However a study paid for by the village by Boston-based London Economics, released last November, notes that "if 706mW is selected for the RFP, then there would be no 'capacity market need' for Port Jefferson repowering well beyond 2022." It also states that other studies have shown that repowering Barrett is preferable to Port Jefferson. 

In order to get Port Jeff back up and running, National Grid – which owns the plant – would have to bear the cost of a study showing it's economic to bring the plant up to speed, at which point LIPA would accept or reject the option to pursue the project.

Mayor Margot Garant had no comment on the recent LIPA decision, and Decotis said that repowering both Barrett and Port Jefferson remains a possibility as well.

"Preliminary studies indicate to us that it could be both feasible and potentially economic to repower E.F. Barrett and Port Jefferson."