In time, the Hudson Avenue plant ceased electric generation and produced steam only.Originally built for Consolidated Edison, the plant was sold to KeySpan in 1999 as part of a divestiture plan and is now owned by TransCanada.USPowerGen has plans for a repowering project at the Astoria plant that would increase its generating capacity by about 15 percent while reducing its air emissions. Consolidated Gas acquired competitor United Electric Light and Power Company in 1900. The city of New York then acquired the majority of the site in the late 1960s, and the property was transitioned and used for warehouse space for a wholesale food co-op.Later, a new process was used in which coke or coal was heated in the presence of steam, leaving a flammable gas mixture, containing methane and carbon monoxide.
The station, however, still controls electrical service for parts of the Bronx and Manhattan and is a crossover point for gas and power lines from Queens.Con Edison launched the Indian Point Nuclear Reactor 1 in 1962, followed by Indian Point 2 in 1974 and Indian Point 3, which was sold to the New York Power Authority before its completion. One of those electric companies was Edison Electric. In February 2011, the remaining four boilers, which burned dirty and expensive No. Other incidents included 600,000 gallons of radioactive steam venting into the atmosphere and an explosion in the main generator that spilled oil into the Hudson River.East River Station was built as a coal facility in 1926 by the New York Edison Company. Workers in the plant ─ whether in any of the trades necessary to keep the plant producing, such as plumbers, electricians, and boilermakers ─ were exposed to high levels of asbestos, as the substance was literally everywhere. Prior to Con Ed selling the plant to a developer, the power station was known as one of the most polluting steam/electricity-generating plants in the state and had been out of compliance with environmental regulations for five years.The IRT Powerhouse powered the subway until 1959, when it was sold to Consolidated Edison. A Con Edison official on Jan. 2 told HuffPost that the incident didn’t occur at a power-generating plant. The plant and the company that owned it faced various problems, even in the early days of operation. Queen Marie of Romania dedicated the plant by flipping the switch that started the 100,000-horsepower turbine generator, prompting a ConEd official to note that the queen had, “released the energies of one machine that could supply more than three times the electricity at present used by all of Romania.”The plant originally produced gas for gas street light systems and later for heating and cooking.
The waste products created at the gas plants were resistant to decay and are known to have the potential for posing a health risk to workers and residents living in the area. A steam plant at the site continues to supply steam to the Consolidated Edison steam network.The four brick-lined smokestacks rising from the massive structure were 325-feet tall. There were even brawls between workers over territory.Although still an active steam-generating plant, it is the exterior of the former IRT Powerhouse that has caught the attention of some New York City residents. The lines made it possible for electricity generated upstate to power New York City.Consolidated Edison (Con Ed or Con Edison) currently distributes natural gas to more than a million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Westchester County. TransCanada bought Ravenswood in 2008. Ravenswood Unit 3, the home of “Big Allis,” a 1,000-megawatt generator built by Allis-Chambers, went online in 1965.