After shutdown of Indian Point Nuclear Plant, New York’s power was replaced with fossil fuels, making its electricity 46 percent dirtier 

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By Sid Bagga

New York’s in-state electricity generation was 46 percent higher per unit of energy in its first full month after the closure of Indian Point Nuclear Plant, compared to before the shutdown began, according to a new Environmental Progress analysis. The state also emitted 37 percent more carbon dioxide from electricity generation on an absolute basis.

In May 2021, New York generated 9.3 terawatt-hours of electricity at an average carbon intensity of 174 kilograms per megawatt-hour. May was the first full month after a two year process of shutting down Indian Point’s two 1.0 GW reactors. The first was disconnected from the grid on April 30, 2020, and the second on April 30, 2021. In May 2019, a typical month for New York electricity demand, the state generated 9.9 TWh of electricity at an average carbon intensity of 119 kilograms per MWH.  

The EP analysis also found that Indian Point’s share of New York electricity was completely replaced by fossil fuels, with the share of New York’s generation from fossil fuels rising by 14 percentage points, from 30.5 percent to 44.5 percent, between 2019 and 2021. This is accounted for by a 12 percentage point drop in the nuclear share, from 38.7 percent to 26.5 percent, as well as a 2 percentage point drop in hydroelectricity share. As a result, New York’s share of electricity generation from fossil fuels was its highest since 2016.

The emissions factors used for the individual generation types were 0.4kg CO2 per kWh for natural gas, typical for downstate New York natural gas powerplants according to data reported to the U.S. Energy Information Agency’s Form 923; 0 for solar, wind, hydroelectricity, other renewables, and nuclear. Only trace amounts of other generation types operated in the state.

Correction (June 24, 2021): An earlier version of the article erroneously reported New York’s May 2021 CO2 emissions intensity as 119 KG/MWH, and it’s May 2019 CO2 emissions as 174 KG/MWH, instead of the other way around. That error has been fixed.