Shoreham and LIPA
02-17-2008, 07:24 PM
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size: A new initiative to study the feasibility of overhauling the region's most antiquated power plants got off to a rocky start Friday after revelations that the company chosen to do the work is affiliated with the firm that oversaw construction of the mothballed Shoreham nuclear power plant.
In an explosive exchange during a meeting of legislators, environmentalists and officials from the Long Island Power Authority, state Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) expressed outrage at the idea that the winning bidder for the contract was Stone & Webster Management Consultants.
"I think it's an insult to us after Shoreham," said LaValle. "I have absolutely no faith in this company ... It just brings a very emotional response to go down that road again with a company that brought us where we are." Debt tied to Shoreham accounts for as much as 16 cents of every dollar paid in LIPA bills.
LaValle accused Stone & Webster of having a "tin ear" to concerns during Shoreham's ill-fated construction. He left the meeting well before it concluded. LIPA chief executive Kevin Law, acknowledging he hadn't been aware of Stone & Webster's past affiliation, sought to assure LaValle "this is a totally different process and project." He also noted that "LILCO is no longer running the show," referring to the Long Island Lighting Co., which initiated the Shoreham project.
Officials from Stone & Webster Management Consultants sought to reassure LaValle and attendees that the division that will work on the overhaul -- called repowering -- was separate from the division that worked on Shoreham.
Matthew Cordaro, a former LILCO executive and energy expert at Long Island University, said he didn't believe the connection would be a factor in the firm's analysis. Cordaro was more concerned that LIPA has waited so long before exploring repowering -- something he encouraged the utility to do as far back as 2002, when he released a study offering a blueprint for the work. He charged a prior LIPA administration dismissed his plan.
"It's bittersweet," said Cordaro, who sits on the new repowering committee started by LIPA. "It's bitter in the sense that it's taken so long, but sweet they are finally doing something."
He blamed the previous LIPA administration for focusing on projects such as the wind-farm, the Neptune cable and the Caithness plant, which he noted would more appropriately have been a repowering on existing power plant sites. "If repowering had been considered earlier in the game, it would have been much more viable than it is today," Cordaro said.
More corruption
size: A new initiative to study the feasibility of overhauling the region's most antiquated power plants got off to a rocky start Friday after revelations that the company chosen to do the work is affiliated with the firm that oversaw construction of the mothballed Shoreham nuclear power plant.
In an explosive exchange during a meeting of legislators, environmentalists and officials from the Long Island Power Authority, state Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) expressed outrage at the idea that the winning bidder for the contract was Stone & Webster Management Consultants.
"I think it's an insult to us after Shoreham," said LaValle. "I have absolutely no faith in this company ... It just brings a very emotional response to go down that road again with a company that brought us where we are." Debt tied to Shoreham accounts for as much as 16 cents of every dollar paid in LIPA bills.
LaValle accused Stone & Webster of having a "tin ear" to concerns during Shoreham's ill-fated construction. He left the meeting well before it concluded. LIPA chief executive Kevin Law, acknowledging he hadn't been aware of Stone & Webster's past affiliation, sought to assure LaValle "this is a totally different process and project." He also noted that "LILCO is no longer running the show," referring to the Long Island Lighting Co., which initiated the Shoreham project.
Officials from Stone & Webster Management Consultants sought to reassure LaValle and attendees that the division that will work on the overhaul -- called repowering -- was separate from the division that worked on Shoreham.
Matthew Cordaro, a former LILCO executive and energy expert at Long Island University, said he didn't believe the connection would be a factor in the firm's analysis. Cordaro was more concerned that LIPA has waited so long before exploring repowering -- something he encouraged the utility to do as far back as 2002, when he released a study offering a blueprint for the work. He charged a prior LIPA administration dismissed his plan.
"It's bittersweet," said Cordaro, who sits on the new repowering committee started by LIPA. "It's bitter in the sense that it's taken so long, but sweet they are finally doing something."
He blamed the previous LIPA administration for focusing on projects such as the wind-farm, the Neptune cable and the Caithness plant, which he noted would more appropriately have been a repowering on existing power plant sites. "If repowering had been considered earlier in the game, it would have been much more viable than it is today," Cordaro said.
More corruption