NY PSC fights state legislature on ConEd nuke leak

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

NY PSC fights state legislature on ConEd nuke leak
  
NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - The New York State Public Service 
Commission (PSC) and the state legislature locked horns Thursday over 
which branch of the government has the power to regulate Consolidated 
Edison Inc. <ED.N> following a radiation leak last month that shut 
its nuclear reactor. 

The state Senate and Assembly have proposed bills to block Con Ed 
from raising ratepayers' electric rates to cover the extra costs 
stemming from the shutdown of the New York City utility's Indian 
Point 2 nuclear plant. 

But the PSC, arguing it already has jurisdiction to prevent Con Ed 
from passing on those costs, has asked for more time to review the 
company's actions leading up to the radiation leak. 

"If we determine Con Ed is responsible for the radiation leak then we 
will punish Con Ed and refund the ratepayers' money," said PSC 
spokesman David Flanagan. 

On February 15, a tube in one of Indian Point 2's four steam 
generators cracked, releasing radioactive water into the generator 
and environment surrounding the 931 megawatt plant in Buchanan, N.Y. 
along the shores of the Hudson River about 35 miles north of New York 
City. 

The PSC sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R) 
asking that the state Senate withhold consideration of its version of 
the bill, which has been tied up in a committee for most of this 
week. 

"Until the investigations and proceedings are completed, there is no 
basis for finding...(Con Ed's) failure to replace (Indian Point 2's) 
generators caused increased risk of radioactive leakage or plant 
outages," the PSC said in the letter to Senator Bruno. 

In 1988, Con Ed took delivery and mothballed four new steam 
generators following a lawsuit against Westinghouse, the manufacturer 
of the generators, in which the utility alleged the tubes in the old 
generators were subject to corrosion and cracking. 

On Monday, the state Assembly passed with overwhelming bi-partisan 
support a similar bill sponsored by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver 
(D) of Manhattan. 

State Senator Guy Velella (R) of the Bronx and Westchester County, 
who has sponsored the Senate bill, vowed Thursday to continue his 
efforts. 

"My concern is not with the Utility or the PSC, it is with the 
ratepayer. My goal is to ensure that not one cent for one replacement 
kilowatt is paid for by Con Ed consumers," said Senator Velella in a 
statement. 

Since the shutdown, Con Ed has been passing down roughly $600,000 a 
day in replacement power costs to its three million ratepayers in New 
York City and neighboring Westchester County. 

Under past regulations, Con Ed was allowed to pass on to its 
customers the cost of purchasing replacement power when any of its 
generating facilities were shut down. 

The PSC argued the proposed law punishing Con Ed would divert the 
resources of the company and the state away from the most important 
goal, which the PSC called "the safe operation of the Indian Point 2 
plant and protection of ratepayers." 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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