Paterson must expand state’s generating capacity by Max Schulz

If Gov. David Paterson wants to make a clean break from his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, a good start would be to overhaul Spitzer’s head-in-the- sand approach to energy issues.

Thanks to high taxes and excessive regulations, New Yorkers suffer the third-highest electricity bills in the country, paying rates 60 percent higher than the national average. Those high power prices stifle economic growth and cause businesses and residents to flee.

Potentially worse than the economic malaise produced by sky-high power prices is the threat of economic catastrophe caused by blackouts and power outages. According to the New York Independent System Operator, 2,750 megawatts of power — roughly the equivalent generated by five power plants — will need to be added to the state’s electricity capacity over the next decade. The only problem is that there aren’t any plans to build those plants.

New York’s top elected officials acknowledge the dimensions of the problem, but many of their policies would only make it worse. Spitzer’s energy and environmental initiatives would raise already-high electricity rates while doing nothing to ensure New York has the power plants it needs to buttress a 21st century economy. Paterson is in a position to set a better course for New York’s energy and environmental future, and bring relief to ratepayers.

Paterson should take a hard look at the state’s convoluted Renewable Portfolio Standard, which calls for one-quarter of New York’s electricity to come from “green” sources by 2013. Currently, the state gets about 20 percent from these sources, but 90 percent of that amount comes from large-scale hydropower sources. Unfortunately there aren’t any more big hydro projects left to tap. If New York is going to meet its goal, it will have to be through massive state subsidies for expensive, inefficient, small-scale renewable technologies.

Another smart move would be for Paterson to reject the Spitzer administration’s hostility to nuclear energy, which provides 30 percent of the state’s power, and to embrace the green potential of the atom. It is the best technology available for generating large quantities of power while producing no greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, Paterson should push lawmakers to pass a siting law streamlining licensing and construction for large power plants. New York once had such a law on its books, Article X of the Public Service Law, but that expired five years ago. Spitzer last year proposed reauthorizing Article X, but excluded nuclear and coal plants from the process. That’s a mistake.

New York has garnered the wrong kind of headlines in recent weeks with tales about what happens when the lights go down. Paterson has an opportunity to ensure a much-worse “lights-out” condition does not befall the Empire State. He must flip the switch.