Indian Point May Enlist Giuliani as Defender
By THOMAS KAPLAN and DANNY HAKIM
Now, Indian Point’s owners, confronted by that intensified political opposition and public unease, are preparing a public relations campaign. And, seeking a way to counteract the determined governor, they are turning for help to a tough-talking former
The Entergy Corporation, the operator of the two reactors at Indian Point, which generate as much as 30 percent of
Entergy officials said the campaign was still in the planning stages and could include television commercials. A company spokesman, James F. Steets, would not elaborate on discussions with Mr. Giuliani, who has done promotional work for Entergy in the past.
“We think he’s a great voice for Indian Point,” Mr. Steets said. “He has been very supportive of the plants because he understands they’re safe and secure, and as mayor he knows how important it is to have a reliable source of energy for the city.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Giuliani’s consulting business, Giuliani Partners, declined to comment for this article, and it remained unclear whether Mr. Giuliani and Entergy had reached an agreement.
An advertising campaign would be the most visible sign yet of Entergy’s concern that Mr. Cuomo and other opponents pose a serious threat to the future of the plant, which sits 35 miles north of Midtown Manhattan in Buchanan.
The original 40-year operating licenses for Indian Point’s reactors expire in 2013 and 2015, and Entergy is asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend them for 20 years. Mr. Cuomo has vowed to lobby federal regulators to deny the extensions, and one of the governor’s top aides met with representatives from Entergy in June and emphasized that Mr. Cuomo was determined to shut down the plant, a blunt message that startled company officials.
The state’s attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, has also emerged as an obstacle. Since January, he has repeatedly written to federal regulators raising concerns about safety and security at Indian Point.
Entergy also faces considerable public misgivings. According to a Siena College poll conducted in March, 72 percent of registered voters in New York State were concerned about the safety of the state’s nuclear plants, which include three active facilities upstate, in addition to Indian Point.
“I would imagine this has their full attention,” Paul T. Ridzon, an analyst for KeyBanc Capital Markets, said of Entergy. “I think if they spend a few million dollars on a campaign, it would certainly be money well spent, because the plant is very profitable.”
The reactors at Indian Point have a capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts — or about 41 percent of the capacity of Entergy’s wholesale nuclear power business. Entergy’s nuclear division generated $489 million in income last year, or 39 percent of the company’s earnings.
Indian Point has its share of backers, including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has questioned whether it would be possible to close the plant anytime soon, given the large share of the city’s energy it provides.
But in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Entergy routinely discloses the risk of “possible shutdown of nuclear generating facilities,” and in an earnings conference call on Tuesday, the company’s chief executive, J. Wayne Leonard, acknowledged the difficult landscape. “We believe the arguments for license renewal are very strong, and they’re supported by the facts," he said.
He added, “We are very early in the process, and as these things typically unfold, sometimes things get better.”
Analysts said that investors had taken note of Mr. Cuomo’s tough stance toward Indian Point’s relicensing. “It’s an uncertainty,” said Michael Worms, an analyst for BMO Capital Markets, “and one thing Wall Street does not like is uncertainties.”
In recent months, proponents of nuclear power have employed advertising and public relations campaigns to emphasize plant safety in the wake of the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in
“Given the images on TV in the spring, that’s not surprising,” said Steve Kerekes, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute. “We recognize that right now people want to understand what we do at our facilities to ensure safety.”
Entergy, which is also facing a difficult relicensing battle for Vermont Yankee, a smaller nuclear plant it operates just south of
In March, the company placed advertisements in
And last week Mr. Steets, the Entergy spokesman, said the company was now seeking to call further attention to Indian Point’s safety features.
“A lot’s been said about what could happen post-Japan, and we have an important message,” he said. “It’s really about reassuring people. And we want as favorable an environment as possible for the relicensing. You don’t want people to be afraid of the plant.”
For Entergy, a carefully planned public relations campaign would not be without precedent. About a year and a half after Sept. 11, 2001, amid concerns about Indian Point’s potential vulnerability to a terrorist attack, the company hired Giuliani Partners to consult on emergency planning and security.
And when Entergy formally announced in 2006 that it would seek to operate Indian Point’s two active reactors beyond their initial 40-year licenses, it again enlisted Mr. Giuliani’s support. He called Indian Point “as safe as a facility can be.”
Nicholas Confessore contributed reporting.
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"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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