Shoreham One of Two Possible Sites for LIPA Power Plant

The Long Island Power Authority announced Wednesday afternoon that it will recommend two locations to its board of trustees as possible future sites for a new power plant, including Shoreham.

Yaphank is also being considered, but the proposed site in Kings Park is no longer under consideration. LIPA Board Trustees will be asked to vote on moving forward with conducting negotiations for 20-year Purchase Power Agreements with both companies as it determines which one will offer the best value to Long Island customers. 

LIPA issued a request for proposals approximately in August 2010, searching to build a new power plant to meet Long Island's growing power demand under its 2010-2020 Electric Resource Plan. There were 45 proposals submitted and nine months ago, LIPA whittled its list of potential sites down to six. The proposal suggested a 400 mega-watt natural-gas powered plant that would use ultra low sulfur distillate as a backup. It would cost $650 million to construct. 

While two sites are being considered, only one plant will be built. According to LIPA, J-Power, which is a subsidiary of Electric Power Development, has proposed to develop, own and operate a new 377 mega-watt natural gas-fired power plant in Shoreham on a site reserved by LIPA for a future generating plant. J-Power also owns four existing generation plants on Long Island, including one at Shoreham. If this plan is chosen, additional resources will be necessary and aquired through other means, according to LIPA.

Caithness, which is a subsidiary of Caithness Energy, proposed to develop, own and operate a new 706 mega-watt natural-gas fired power plant in Yaphank. This new plant would be adjacent to its existing 326 MW power plant.

According to LIPA, the project developer would be responsible for obtaining permits for siting and building the project and would include an environmental review process conducted by state and local regulatory agencies, which involves public input. LIPA said it does not control the outcome of this process and that it is based on state and local permitting requirements.