Christine Quinn Joins Group to Rebuild Queens Power Plant

Council Speaker Christine Quinn on Friday joined Smart Power NY, a coalition of community organizations, elected officials, and environmentalists supporting the Astoria Repowering Project, an effort to rebuild an existing Queens power plant to be more environmentally friendly. "Changing the way we are dealing with energy, changing the way we are dealing with power is a citywide issue," said Quinn, adding that project could "help every resident of the city of New York." Backers of NRG Energy's project say it would cost $1.5 billion, increase energy output enough to power 320,000 homes, and create 500 construction jobs. State Sen. Michael Gianaris said that the project was a "win-win-win-win-win situation" and had "no opposition." In May, NRG submitted a proposal for the project to the governor's Energy Highway Task Force; support from the task force would aid NRG in securing a long term contract with the New York Power Authority, which it needs to acquire financing for the project. An NRG representative said that the proposal was "the premier project in New York City" and the only one with permits by the Department of Environmental Conservation in order and shovel ready. To read more from City & State [click here. ](http://www.cityandstateny.com)