Bethpage Energy Center

The original Bethpage Power Plant entered commercial operation in August 1989.[2] It was constructed for Grumman Aerospace as a cogeneration plant for its Bethpage facility. Under a 15-year contract, Grumman leased the land to a joint venture of General Electric, Brooklyn Union Gas, and the venture management company J. Makowski Associates; the joint venture constructed and operated the plant, and sold steam and most of its electricity back to Grumman, with the excess electricity being sold to the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO).[10][11]

Grumman had previously been purchasing power from the FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Upstate New York, but generating the power locally was seen as advantageous due to the local capacity shortage from Long Island's Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant not opening, and limited power connections to the mainland.[12] It was also initially projected to cost 40 percent less than power received through LILCO, in the wake of increasing energy costs from the utility to cover the costs of the Shoreham plant and damage from Hurricane Gloria.[13][14]

Calpine purchased a 45 percent stake in the plant in 1997 from Brooklyn Union Gas, as part of the latter's divestment from some power generation interests preceding its merger with LILCO. It was Calpine's first venture in the Northeastern United States.[15] In 1998, the remaining stake in the plant was acquired, and an agreement was made to acquire the land from Grumman.[6] The Grumman facility was being closed at the time.[15]

The Bethpage Peaker opened in July 2002.[3] It was constructed by Calpine on an expedited four-month construction schedule.[8] It was part of a larger program to build peaking plants around Long Island to avoid the risk of rolling blackouts in the face of increased demands like those experienced in California the previous year, and given the strain on the system from a heat wave in 2001. The turbine was under an 80 MW threshold that would have triggered a full regulatory and environmental review.[16][17][18]

In August 2004, the purchase agreement with Grumman expired and was not renewed, and the cogeneration activity at the original plant ceased.[19][20]

Bethpage Energy Center 3 opened in July 2005.[4] It was part of a solicitation for power generation by the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), LILCO's successor, due to continued high peak demand in subsequent years,[7][21] as well as the Northeast blackout of 2003 and delays by Connecticut in activating the Cross Sound Cable.[22] This solicitation also resulted in construction of the Caithness Long Island Energy Center; Pinelawn Power Plant in West Babylon, New York; and the Neptune Cable.[21][23][24] Most of the land was owned by a private real estate developer; although Calpine had secured a lease from the owner, the New York Power Authority and LIPA decided to acquire the property outright through eminent domain, but the taking was overturned in 2008.[25]