No One Knows It Yet, but NY Gov. Cuomo Has Just Sparked a Gas-Drilling Boom
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifted a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial technique used to extract natural gas from shale. The natural gas industry won't be cashing in -- or drilling -- tomorrow, or even next year. But a separate move by Cuomo to close the Indian Point nuclear power plant could make New York highly dependent on natural gas for electricity and usher in a golden age of drilling in the state a heckuva a lot sooner than most folks realize.
A history of fracking
Last year, former Gov. David Paterson vetoed a bill passed by the state legislature that would have banned "fracking." The process is necessary to exploit the Marcellus formation, a massive deposit of gas-bearing shale that stretches from Ohio to New York.
Instead, Paterson imposed a temporary moratorium -- which, by the way, would have expired without Cuomo's involvement -- until the process could be studied further. Even now, a de facto moratorium on drilling will exist until the state's Department of Environment Conservation (DEC) finalizes its review, which might not happen until next year.
New York's policy on fracking matters to more than just New Yorkers. New York's emerging policy on fracking could influence other states and even the federal government. The EPA is coincidentally conducting its own review of the process. It'll be interesting to see if New York and the EPA's stances match up.
It appears that fracking will be allowed in New York, but with restrictions. The DEC announced this week it will recommend a ban on fracking in and around the watersheds serving New York City and Syracuse as well as on state-owned lands. That leaves some 85 percent of the Marcellus Shale accessible to drillers.
The nuclear connection
If Cuomo's plan to close the Indian Point nuclear plant succeeds, the state might need every bit of that remaining 85 percent. The NYT's Andrew Revkin, who's against shutting down the nuclear power plant, touched on this very point in a recent column.
If Cuomo prevails in his efforts to shut down the Indian Point nuclear reactors, this may assuage foes of nuclear power, but it will amplify the pressure to build new natural gas power plants, and/or transmission lines.Revkin's right on here. Indian Point, which is owned and operated by Entergy, can produce more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity and provides a quarter of the power needed in New York City and Westchester. This isn't the kind of small fry operation that can be easily replaced with residential and commercial solar installations.
NYC would probably first turn to other plants in upstate New York or Canada. But as David Lochbaum with the Union of Concerned Scientists noted recently, the connecting power lines are already at capacity.
Drill, baby, drill
That leaves few options. A $850 million transmission cable under Hudson River that just began construction will provide 660 megawatts of new electric power for NYC. It's a start, but hardly the solution. It would be great if renewable energy could somehow fill the gap, but the scale and transmission requirements make it highly unlikely. That leaves natural-gas fired power plants.
Will Cuomo really pull the trigger on this one? Two months ago, I would've said Cuomo's public displeasure with the plant was merely political theater. Now it looks like Cuomo might actually be serious. Last week, Cuomo's top advisers met with Entergy and said the governor was determined to close it down. If Cuomo's successful, expect a natural gas power plant building boom in the state.
Photo of drilling protesters in New York by Flickr user myd, CC 2.0
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