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Commentary: Repowering ain't easy, but it's necessary.

Long Island Business News, Nov 9, 2007 by Richard Kessel

Leaves on many Long Island trees haven't fallen, signaling yet another late autumn. It should be apparent that we're experiencing significant seasonal changes that can't be chalked up to a "once a decade" aberration. Global warming can no longer be ignored.

Whether or not you like Al Gore, whether or not you believe the warnings about global warming's effects on the planet, we cannot deny that the world is changing.

Hurricanes and storms are more severe. Ocean temperatures are rising. Seasons change more slowly and atmospheric conditions shift all the time. Doubters who claim these events are cyclical seem to forget that during previous cycles, we didn't have automobiles and power plants spewing toxins.

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The majority of Long Island power plants are decades old and in desperate need of retrofitting. While Keyspan (now National Grid) has done a very good job of maintaining, operating and reducing emissions from these so-called "baseload" plants, we must look for ways to replace at least some of them with cleaner, more efficient units.

This is commonly referred to as "repowering," and the goal is more electricity with fewer emissions. But the devil is in the details, when it comes to keeping on the lights and simultaneously reducing global-warming.

To most people, repowering means gutting a plant and replacing it with something cleaner. Here on Long Island, the more likely scenario is building a new plant on a current site and closing down the old one. Whether it's Island Park, Far Rockaway or Northport, we should understand that we really need to focus on building new plants at old sites.

Repowering can't be done overnight or on the cheap. It takes at least six years to repower an existing site, and despite some wishful thinking, a repowering project could cost well over $1.5 billion - ultimately borne by ratepayers.

Some ask why LIPA didn't do this sooner. The simple answer is we had to add smaller plants quickly, or we would have suffered blackouts over the past three summers. Now that LIPA has added 1,800 megawatts and is in a good supply position, we should focus our attention on a 20-year repowering plan that figures out how and when to repower and how to afford it.

If we really want to be part of the war against global warming, we can be. It won't be cheap. It won't be easy. But it can be done, if we have the will.

Richard Kessel is the former chairman and chief executive of the Long Island Power Authority.

Commentary: Repowering ain't easy, but it's necessary.

Long Island Business News, Nov 9, 2007 by Richard Kessel

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