A coalition of energy policy groups has launched a mobile billboard campaign timed to Climate Week, calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to restart the shuttered Indian Point nuclear plant in Westchester County. The billboard, mounted on a truck and featuring an image of Hochul, reads: “open up Indian Point, or the heat goes out and the light goes out.”
Indian Point, located about 40 miles north of Midtown Manhattan in Buchanan, closed in 2021 under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo after sustained pressure from anti-nuclear activists and lawmakers concerned about the risks of a meltdown so close to a major population center. Before it shut down, the plant supplied roughly two gigawatts of power.
Hochul, who was lieutenant governor when the plant closed, has since called Cuomo’s decision a “mistake,” while stopping short of proposing to bring Indian Point itself back online. She has instead pushed a broader initiative to build new nuclear reactors in the state as New Yorkers face rising utility bills.
“We lost 25% of New York City’s power when Indian Point shut down. That’s something that was unforeseen,” Hochul said last week on NY1’s “Inside City Hall.” “Nobody had a plan B. What are you supposed to do for power the next day?”
Steve Milloy, senior fellow at the Energy and Environment Legal Institute, argued that Hochul’s approach doesn’t go far enough.
“If Governor Hochul was sincere about jump-starting nuclear power to cut electricity prices, she would be pressing the Trump administration to expedite the recommissioning of the Indian Point nuclear power plant, where the extensive infrastructure needed is already in place,” Milloy said. “But that is not what’s happening. She is only sincere about her insincerity.”
The groups funding the billboard campaign include the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, the American Energy Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Heartland Institute and Truth in Energy and Climate.
The push to revive Indian Point has also become a flashpoint in New York’s Hudson Valley congressional race. Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican seeking reelection against Democrat Cait Conley, has made restarting the plant a central campaign issue and appeared earlier this year outside the facility alongside U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Supporters point to growing demand from data center developers seeking dependable power sources.
Separately, the U.S. Army recently announced that Fort Drum in New York will receive a small nuclear generator as part of a nationwide program to install small reactors at military installations.
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