By William Opalka

NEW YORK — In a last-ditch effort the save the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear plant, New York regulators are proposing financial incentives that could be available to the plant’s owners by July.

The New York Public Service Commission on Tuesday proposed to expedite subsidies to keep the plant operating while a more permanent incentive is crafted on the normal regulatory schedule (15-E-0302). A public comment period will last until May 2.

However, Entergy, FitzPatrick’s owner, again said the state’s plans were too uncertain and too late to save the plant on Lake Ontario. Entergy intends to close the plant on Jan. 27, 2017, when its current fueling cycle ends.

New York’s attempts to prop up its nuclear fleet exclude Entergy’s Indian Point nuclear plant, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to close because of its proximity to New York City.

“If the state is focused on reducing CO₂ emissions, the Clean Energy Standard should apply to Indian Point, which is an essential generation resource critical to the state’s goal of reducing CO₂ emissions,” spokeswoman Tammy Holden told Syracuse.com.

Entergy Vice President of External Affairs Mike Twomey said in a statement that no definitive proposal from New York for FitzPatrick has been received since negotiations broke down last year.

“While we share the NYPSC’s concerns about the loss of nuclear generation, the financial implications of its efforts are too uncertain and this proposal comes too late to save FitzPatrick,” he said.

“Entergy met with New York state officials from the governor’s office and with the PSC repeatedly over the last few years to discuss how the current New York market structure disadvantages nuclear generation, how nuclear power’s carbon-free attributes could be recognized in the market and the financial challenges faced by the FitzPatrick plant. Unfortunately, these discussions resulted in no meaningful progress or policy changes by New York state.”

The PSC is already working to create a new tier of zero-emission credits (ZECs) that would be available to upstate nuclear generators next year. The proposed Clean Energy Standard is meant to help put New York on a path to 50% renewable generation by 2030. Nuclear is seen as a zero-carbon bridge to that plan. (See New York Would Require Nuclear Power Mandate, Subsidy.)

The process gained urgency after NYISO released an assessment finding that New York will be short of generation in 2019 with the closing of FitzPatrick and other plants. (See Fitzpatrick Closure Could Leave NY Generation Short.)

The PSC’s move to expedite subsidies to FitzPatrick “gives the commission the opportunity to act very decisively,” Chairwoman Audrey Zibelman said Tuesday. “We do not want to see a plant retire from [the lack] of a short-term solution.”

The expedited subsidy schedule would enable Entergy to refuel FitzPatrick if the company were to change its mind and continue operating the plant.

The PSC plan is modeled after existing renewable energy procurement practices used by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. NYSERDA purchases credits using money made available to it by the commission, including system benefits charges. The ZEC funds would also include other money collected from ratepayers.

As in renewable energy production, each ZEC would be paid for 1 MWh of energy produced. ZEC payments would be no more than the amount necessary above existing revenue streams to cover the ongoing costs of the facility for operations and maintenance, capital expenditures, taxes and other expenses. Sunk costs would be excluded.

Raj Addepalli, the PSC’s managing director of utility rates and service, offered a rough estimate of $15/MWh, using as a benchmark the “very complicated” formula just approved by the commission to keep the R.E. Ginna nuclear plant operating. (See NYPSC OKs Ginna Deal.)

That figure was derived from the payments to Ginna under its reliability support services agreement that will fluctuate from $49 to $52/MWh, minus the recent yearly average wholesale energy price of $35/MWh.

Ginna would be eligible to participate in any ZEC program after its RSSA expires on March 31, 2017.