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NY STATE TO SHUT INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR PLANT

[1/9/17]  Entergy Corp’s Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York state will shut down by April 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday, due primarily to its proximity to the heavily populated New York City area.

“I am proud to have secured this agreement with Entergy to responsibly close the facility 14 years ahead of schedule to protect the safety of all New Yorkers,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Of the plant’s two operating reactors, Unit 2 will close as early as April 2020 and Unit 3 in April 2021.

Shares of Entergy, which has been focusing on its utilities in the South, were down $1.22, or 1.7 percent, at $72.02 at midday.

New York has been developing contingency plans for years to replace the power supplied by Indian Point, which is located in Buchanan, along the Hudson River about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan.

The plant produces about 2,069 megawatts of electricity, enough to meet 25 percent of the power used by New York City and adjacent Westchester County.

Cuomo said replacement power would be in place that adds “no new carbon emissions” and would have “negligible cost impact to ratepayers.”

The shutdown comes as New Orleans-based Entergy has been pulling back from its unregulated nuclear business over the past few years to concentrate on its regulated utilities in the South. Indian Point was the only unregulated nuclear plant it had tried to keep.