State approves new power plant in Queens

State utility regulators approved the installation of a massive new $1.4 billion power plant in Queens today, the Post reported. NRG Energy — which supplies Consolidated Edison and other utility companies with electricity — will build a generator on the site of its existing plant, which is within the 600-acre Con Ed property on the northern edge of Astoria. NRG will shut down its existing generators on the site, which were installed in 1969 and put out 600 megawatts of power. In their place, a new generator capable of churning out 1,040 megawatts will be installed. The extra power will be enough for 320,000 new homes, NRG said. Although the new plant will be much bigger, it will be more environmentally efficient. The company said it will emit just 12 percent of the pollution that the existing plant emits annually. The first phase of the new plant will be finished in 2013, and the entire project is scheduled to be finished by 2015. According to the state’s Public Service Commission, the project is expected to create 700 construction jobs. [Post]