NEW YORK – With the 10th anniversary of the 2003 Northeast blackout Wednesday, August 14, the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance has issued 10 recommendations to reduce the likelihood of future blackouts.
Group Chairman Jerry Kremer said there are always risks for future blackouts.
“More attention now has to be paid to electricity prices, which are expensive and we have got to have more projects that have a cost-benefit impact of more use of natural gas, which is really the future for the country and not rely on Arab oil creating more in-state generation, the only talk there is now is about having a power line that runs from Canada to New York City with no intermediate stops,” Kremer said.
New York AREA, which was formed in response to the massive 2003 blackout, recommends prioritizing investments in the “energy highway;” empowering the state’s generation siting board to expedite the power plant siting process; dropping the state’s opposition to the Indian Point nuclear power plant; reducing reliance on out-of-state electricity and related outsourcing of jobs; and reducing an assortment of energy taxes and fees which do not promote grid reliability.