To reach green goals, New York needs
peakers that run on gas
oped
Display Advertising Rates & Deadlines: A copy of The Bronx Times Reporter Advertising Rates is available on request. Display
deadline is the Friday prior to publication. Camera ready copy deadline is the Monday preceding publication.
Classified Deadlines: To place a Classified Ad call (718) 260-2555 or email classified@schnepsmedia.com. Deadline: 3 p.m. Tuesday prior
to publication.
Legal Notice Deadlines: For Legal Advertising call (718) 260-3977 or email dwilson@schnepsmedia.com. Deadline: 12 p.m. Monday
prior to publication.
Letters To The Editor: Readers are encouraged to send us their viewpoints. Name and address must be included, but will be withheld
upon request. Letters should be as brief as possible, not exceeding 200 words.
News Items: Readers are welcome to suggest news items of interest. Call the Editorial Department at (718) 260-4597 or e-mail to
bronx times@schnepsmedia.com.
Around Town: Announcements of birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. will gladly be published. All announcements must be
mailed to the Bronx Times Reporter 3604 East Tremont Avenue, Bronx, NY 10465, before the Friday preceding publication. No
phone calls please.
Community Calendar: Civic organizations, churches, synagogues and special interest groups can have their special event dates announced
free of charge. Mail should be addressed to Community Calendar and received no later than the Friday preceding publication.
Subscription Rates: Yearly subscriptions are $26.00; 2 years for $40.00, within Bronx county. Out of county subscriptions are $50.00
per year.
Change Of Address: Any problems or inquiries regarding a present subscription must be accompanied by the mailing label from your
newspaper showing complete name, address and subscription number (top left corner).
Copyright © 2021 by Bronx CNG LLC. All rights reserved. Neither this newspaper nor any part thereof may be reproduced, copied
or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, recording or by an information retrieval
system without the express written permission of the publisher. This copyright is extended to the design and text created for advertisements.
Reproduction of said advertisement or any part thereof without the express written permission of Bronx Times Reporter, Inc.
is strictly prohibited.
BRONX TIMES R 12 EPORTER, MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021 BTR
BY GAVIN DONOHUE
This may seem like inside baseball,
but when talking about powering New
York City, you’ll often hear the term
“dispatchable.” All it means is power
our electric grid can call on quickly –
whether it’s a power plant, a battery,
or an array of solar panels – to respond
to something like a heatwave. That is
exactly why our region’s network of
“peaker plants” are indispensable –
they are essential to powering the grid,
on demand, at times when no practical
quantity of renewables or energy storage
can.
While we can maintain reliability
with cleaner technologies, the fact is
that dispatchable plants are required to
keep the lights on. As New York implements
its plan for a 100% carbon-free
electric grid, we can embrace the cleanest
and most effi cient forms of power
that exist today.
Vocal opposition to these backup
units has been in the news recently, with
arguments that New York shouldn’t be
updating or improving fossil fuel technology.
However, it is entirely consistent
with state policy to invest in new,
cutting edge technology that is more effi
cient and has fewer emissions. We are
not faced with a choice between renewables
or natural gas; we clearly
need both right now.
New York’s peaking units, which
were built 50 and 60 years ago, are being
forced into retirement in order to
comply with state emissions requirements,
and they must be replaced
with newer, cleaner, and more effi -
cient technology in order to meet the
state’s renewable energy goals and
effectively back up the grid of the future.
The replacement of older facilities
with newer units will immediately
improve air quality.
New York City has a network of
16 peaker plants, and there are more
than a dozen others scattered in
Westchester County, the Lower Hudson
Valley, New Jersey, and on Long
Island. They’re only called into service
when our grid is overloaded because
demand is peaking – such as
during extreme weather events like
heat waves and cold snaps. In the future,
these plants also will be called
on as an essential backup to provide
power during long periods of little or
no renewable energy generation and
when energy storage is depleted.
Climate change is the greatest
challenge we face as a society, and
New York State is seeking to meet
that challenge by achieving certain
milestones established in law: a zeroemitting
electric system by 2040, and
an economy-wide emissions decrease
of 85% from 1990 levels by 2050. As a
member of the New York State Climate
Action Council – the group charged
with crafting a plan for reaching
those goals – I am committed to fi nding
solutions to reduce emissions as
rapidly and responsibly as possible.
The 2040 carbon-free goal looms
large, and we also have the opportunity
to modernize these backup units
with technology that can be converted
to run on renewable fuels, such as
green hydrogen. This is a monumental
step in the right direction. While
we don’t have the infrastructure today
to reliably deliver renewable fuels
to New York City, we should absolutely
be developing and investing in
technologies now that can be ready
when we reach that point.
The New York Independent System
Operator (NYISO), which controls
the region’s power grid, recently released
a report that found that even
if the electric sector can achieve 100
percent emissions-free power with
70 percent renewable energy generation,
we still must have dispatchable
generation. Currently, natural gas is
the only technologically and economically
viable fuel that is available to
power dispatchable generation to reliably
power homes, hospitals, and
schools on demand.
Gavin Donohue is the President and
CEO of the Independent Power Producers
of New York (IPPNY), and a member
of the New York State Climate Action
Council.
link
link
link
link
link
link