By Nathan Duke
A Canadian company that transports and markets natural gas recently announced it had purchased a Long Island City power plant that is one of the city's largest polluters.
TransCanada Corp., which produces power for customers in the United States and Canada, acquired KeySpan Ravenswood Inc., a large generating station on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City, for $2.8 billion in late August.
The 2,480-megawatt power plant was originally operated by KeySpan, but was taken over by London-based National Grid in March 2006.
“This acquisition positions TransCanada as a strong competitor in the New York City power market and considerably strengthens our overall operations in the northeast U.S. area,” said Hal Kvisle, the company's president and chief executive officer.
The Ravenswood plant is one of three high-polluting generators in western Queens, along with the Astoria Generating Station and the Charles Poletti Power Project, which was long deemed the city's worst polluter but will shut down in January 2010. Western Queens provides an estimated 60 percent of the city's electrical power.
State Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) said he hopes TransCanada will emphasize cleaner energy in its operation of the Ravenswood plant.
“The key is for [them] to prioritize the cleaning of that generator so it will be a lot less polluting and a lot more efficient,” he said. “When the Poletti plant closes down, I believe Ravenswood will be the largest polluter in the city. We desperately need to repower that plant, so I'm hoping the new owners move in that direction.”
The Ravenswood facility is a gas and oil-fired generator that incorporates steam turbine, combined cycle and combustion turbine technology. The generating station has the capacity to provide about 21 percent of the city's energy needs, TransCanada said.
TransCanada also produces power through hydroelectric generation in Connecticut, owns a gas-fired power plant in Rhode Island and operates offices in Massachusetts. The company is also in the process of constructing a wind-powered project in Maine.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
