Coal, gas- fired plants to go on the market
PSEG prepares to split up Atlantic Street property
BRIDGEPORT — In a move that will have a significant future impact on the city’s harbor front, PSEG, owner of the soon- to- be- shuttered coal- fired power plant and its newly built, gas- run neighbor, is splitting up the 60- acre property at 1 Atlantic St.
The company in a statement confirmed to Hearst Connecticut Media that the subdivision application, to be heard by the Zoning Commission April 26, is a precursor to putting the two parcels on the water in the South End up for sale.
“We are in the process of marketing our nonnuclear assets, the fossil and solar source portfolios, which includes Bridgeport,” PSEG said.
The gas- fired facility went online in summer 2019.
“We expect somebody will come in, buy it and operate it,” Tom Gill, Bridgeport’s economic development director, said, adding, “We are not collaborating with them on a buyer. This is a big corporate decision and I’m sure they have investment bankers advising them.”
City Councilman Jorge Cruz, who represents the South End, said any new owner should be “community- friendly and engaged.”
“Let’s co- exist,” Cruz said.
PSEG is one of the city’s highest taxpayers, and when the gas plant was completed it caused a significant boost in the grand list — the total value of all taxable real estate, commercial equipment and cars that, when growing, helps keep property taxes down.
The gas plant was built as part of a deal brokered with former- Mayor Bill Finch’s administration and continued by current- Mayor Joe Ganim. PSEG in exchange for community support agreed to close its aged coal plant — an industrial landmark of sorts with its red and white striped smoke stack — this year for future redevelopment.
PSEG this week reaffirmed the coalfired operation “will retire on June 1” and the company will “take all necessary environmental steps as prescribed and agreed to with the state” as it goes dark.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said those steps will generally include revoking several permits and registrations, closure and decontamination of the coal pile area and any other potential facility- specific considerations.
“PSEG has recently reached out to DEEP staff to discuss what our requirements/ expectations are, and what the company’s plans are, so we’d prefer not to get too far ahead of those discussions,” DEEP spokesman Will Healey said.
As for what will become of that building and land, PSEG said it and Bridgeport “have committed to an ongoing dialogue as it pertains to the future use of the property” including a study “focused on future use opportunities.”
Gill said eventually the city will move to re- zone the property from industrial to something similar to Steelpointe, the long- in- coming redevelopment across the harbor with its retail buildings and restaurants, marina and public water access.
“We see this as a strategic piece of the harbor puzzle,” Gill said.
He acknowledged while the formal shutdown “will make a lot of people very happy” it could be years before the coal plant is cleaned up and redeveloped.
That is not unusual. Steelpointe has, under several mayors, been decades in the making and other major harbor side projects in Bridgeport have all experienced delays of one sort or another.
“There’s a lot that needs to be done,” Gill said of preparing the plant for redevelopment. “Probably the first thing people would really welcome would be once that is demolished and it’s open ( land) and you’re not looking at that coal facility.”
PSEG’s coal plant is part of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “corrective action” program to “treat, store, or dispose of hazardous wastes ( and) to investigate and clean up hazardous releases at ... facilities.”
“A lot of work has been done to date,” Healey said, though DEEP could not immediately state what remained.
Area stakeholders, from Cruz to other major waterfront tenants, all had their own ideas for what should replace the coal operation.
“Make that area more beautiful, more attractive,” Cruz said. “The South End deserves that.”
Fred Hall, general manager of the Bridgeport/ Port Jefferson ferry company, which currently operates out of the South End but plans to eventually move its terminal across the harbor, believes there is an opportunity for commercial shipping.
“You have a relatively good amount of water over there. They loaded and unloaded coal,” Hall said. “If the city is committed to providing commercial opportunities for larger vessels, that would seem to be a site that might make some sense. ... It could be barges coming to load and unload stone or sand or something along those lines. Or larger vessels coming in with various commodities.”
Developer Howard Saffan has spent the last few years turning the city’s shuttered minor league ballpark near PSEG’s property into a concert amphitheater scheduled to open later this spring. Saffan would like whatever is built to be “in keeping with the beautiful development” at Steelpointe, alluding specifically to the Boca Oyster Bar there overlooking a new marina.
“Obviously we would not look kindly to another eyesore like the coal plant,” Saffan said.