wiredInUSA June 2019

North Bergen Liberty Power Plant Image: Liberty Generating

Opposition for river route

The Sierra Club (a US environmental organization) is challenging North Bergen Liberty Generating’s attempt to amend the New York Public Service Commission’s 2003 approval for a transmission cable across the Hudson River. The amendment would authorize construction of two new submarine cables to enable the company to sell electricity from its proposed 1,200MW New Jersey Meadowlands gas-fired plant into the New York electricity markets. “We are opposing the Hudson power line because it is for the North Bergen power plant. Fossil fuel projects will be bad for the environment and the ratepayer. With this proposal, the company makes the money, New York gets energy they don’t need, and New Jersey gets stuck with the pollution, climate and health impacts,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We

will fight, and keep on fighting, natural gas infrastructure because, if we can stop this power line, we can stop the Meadowlands power plant.” If successful in stopping the new transmission lines, environmental groups could curb a significant market for the proposed gas plant and reduce its impact on the environment and public health. In September, the New York Department of Public Service (DPS) denied a request for an Article VII waiver for Meadowlands power plant. In August, New York also rejected Title V permits for the Wawayanda natural gas plant. “New York is also trying to build 2,400MW of offshore wind; more natural gas would undermine those efforts, and New Jersey’s efforts at 3,500MW offshore wind,” added Tittel.

wiredInUSA - June 2019

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