NYPA officials offer update on planned nuclear facility, county voices support for project

MASSENA — The New York Power Authority is surveying communities throughout the state to gauge interest in nuclear facilities, a move officials say is the first step to bring  more clean power to the grid. 

NYPA officials have taken the steps following Assemblyman Scott Gray’s Nuclear 101 forum held last month at the Bonnie Castle Resort. 

Governor Kathy Hochul directed NYPA to oversee the project as part of the state’s larger plans to enhance the electric grid as state lawmakers push to make the state green. 

NYPA President and CEO Justin Driscoll said at a recent trustees meeting that NYPA will issue solicitations this fall for community interest after a number of communities already expressed interest in playing host. 

Driscoll told NYPA trustees the solicitations will be sent to ensure everyone has an opportunity to voice support for the project. 

“We don’t want to leave anyone out in that, so we’re going to put a solicitation out, cast a pretty wide net, and see which communities are interested so that we can gather information from all around the state,” Driscoll said. 

While some municipalities’ leaders were vocal in their request to be the host community at the Nuclear 101 forum last month, NYPA officials have said the process is much more complicated than a simple admission of interest. 

To begin, municipalities must formally send notice to NYPA to express interest following board action. 

In Massena, both the town and village boards did so last month. 

Mayor Greg Paquin and Town Supervisor Sue Bellor both told attendees and board members they intended to bring in experts to better educate the board and public about nuclear energy and facilities. 

Driscoll told NYPA trustees that Governor Hochul “said very directly that this plant will not be in any community that doesn’t want it.” 

Hochul said the project will produce one gigawatt of power but did not rule out multiple, smaller facilities throughout a region in the state. 

“It’s too early to say, but we have that optionality in terms of how we get there. So, that’s something we’re going to be looking at very closely,” Driscoll said. 

That idea was floated during Gray’s forum as well, though a number of experts on the panel suggested one larger facility would be best for planning and distribution purposes. 

Others suggest multiple facilities to safeguard the power grid. 

In either case, nuclear power is now at the forefront of Hochul’s plans and NYPA will be responsible for overseeing the project, officials said. 

Driscoll said the governor’s decision to tap the Power Authority as the more effective entity to oversee the project is another example of the organization’s ability to”to deliver important initiatives. 

“This is no different than some of the other big initiatives we’ve done in our history,” he said. 

Nuclear power was already on NYPA’s radar long before Hochul directed officials to explore a nuclear facility, Driscoll said. 

“We started about a year ago once the interest in advanced nuclear started to become a big topic of conversation in our industry and around the world. We created an emerging technologies task force, which had a principal component of the nuclear work in it. In that effort, we collaborated with our partners, such as the Electric Power Research Institute. We collaborated with our partners in public power, Ontario Power Gen and Tennessee Valley Authority, to really understand some of the technologies and what might be appropriate for New York,” Driscoll said.

That work has laid the groundwork for future nuclear projects in the state, allowing NYPA to hit the ground running with solicitations this fall. 

Driscoll said NYPA officials have already attended a few community meetings as local leaders explore the benefits of nuclear power. 

In St. Lawrence County, legislators have already passed a unanimous resolution to express support for the project in the community. 

The resolution outlined the county’s strong industrial workforce and history of power generation as just two of the reasons NYPA should consider placing a facility in the county. 

For NYPA, some of the next steps will include exploring nuclear technologies and firms that can complete the project, along with finding financial partners and investors to fund the project. 

Driscoll said that will include the federal government and its programs for nuclear energy. 

“One of the things that was mentioned in the governor’s announcement was the need for us to partner with the Department of Public Service to make sure that affordability remains a very high consideration. So, the Department of Public Service will be working closely with us to ensure that those affordability concerns are top of mind as we go forward with this important work,” Driscoll said.

No timeline has been given as to when a community and site will be selected for a project or projects, but state lawmakers have said they are keen to get the project started within the next year or so.  

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