Renewable Energy Coming To Astoria Fossil Fuel Plant, Says Hochul

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Monday that she would work to transition New York City from fossil fuels to renewable energy, pointing at a fossil fuel-burning plant in Astoria where a debate between gas and renewable energy is currently unfolding.

“We’ll be shutting down unhealthy facilities like the Astoria facility,” the governor said at the opening ceremony of Climate Week NYC, an international summit focused on climate action where she announced two new contracts that will bring enough renewable energy to plants in Queens to power 2.5 million citywide homes annually.

While the governor named the Astoria Generating Station as among the city’s polluting, fossil fuel plants — even calling the area “asthma alley,” a moniker referring to nearby residents’ higher than average asthma rates — she did not explicitly speak out against NRG’s proposal to replace its peaker plant in Astoria with a natural gas-fired generator, which advocates argue should be replaced with a renewable energy source instead.

The plant’s critics, including locals and elected officials, argue that NRG’s proposed plant would worsen locals’ health and climate change, and fails to comply with the state's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), a law that mandates carbon emissions reductions over the next few decades.

NRG, by contrast, maintains that its CLCPA-compliant, gas-fired plant would reduce greenhouse gases, improve grid reliability, and boost the economy.

An NRG spokesperson did not immediately respond to Patch’s request for comment on the governor’s Monday statement about the Astoria plant.

Shortly before the governor’s speech, Mayor Bill de Blasio — speaking from Queens Borough Hall amid his borough-specific “City Hall in your Borough” initiative — restated his opposition to NRG’s proposal.

“We have to cut off our dependency on fossil fuels, so that plant has to go,” he said, adding his commitment to investing in renewable energy and seeking “climate justice” for lower income communities who are disproportionately impacted by climate change.

Similarly, Hochul mentioned that the city’s new renewable energy contracts will bring jobs and cleaner environments to Black and brown communities in Queens, which have borne the brunt of the city’s dependence on fossil fuels.

“Let's turn the page on the city’s long standing reliance on fossil fuels and bring new jobs to those communities instead,” she said, pointing to people living in Astoria and Ravenswood, the latter which is also home to a fossil fuel-burning power plant that advocates want to see replaced with renewable energy.

The governor added that “climate disaster” has been a major focus of her first month in office, during which two record-breaking storms pummeled New York City within several days of each other.

Hurricane Ida, preceded by Tropical Storm Henri, ravaged Queens with rain and deadly flooding, killing at least 11 residents, most of whom lived in low-income communities and died when water flooded their basement unit homes.

The storm's devastation brought local leaders, as well as President Joe Biden, to the streets of Queens, from where they called for climate resilient infrastructure and policies that address climate change.

Hochul, on Monday, said that what she saw in the storm's aftermath is “seared in my memory,” and has prompted her to take a more aggressive approach to climate change.

“I do believe there are opportunities lying before us and we just have to have the courage to seize them,” she said, alluding to ways that she, and others in power, can address climate change. “I’m not afraid of a fight. And this is the existential fight of our time, you cannot dispute that.”

After a series of public hearings, staff at the state's Department of Environmental Conservation, or NYSDEC, along with the governor, have about 45 days to figure out next steps on NRG's proposed project, which could include a final decision or a referral for a hearing.