New life could be coming to Bridgeport. The governor announced plans on Tuesday to demolish the former Public Service Electric and Gas Plant. It's an old, decommissioned, coal-power plant in the city.
The goal is to turn the property into potential commercial, residential and recreational space.
“This 33-acre shoreline property containing a former coal plant with a 500-foot smokestack has cut off access to the waterfront for Bridgeport residents for more than 70 years, and the contamination it has left behind has caused a significant hurdle in how this land could possibly be redeveloped and brought back into productive use to the benefit of the community,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a release. “Nobody wants to have an old, polluted, unused and blighted building sitting on the shoreline of our state’s largest city when we could be using this property to grow new jobs and build housing for people who need it."
The plant has a 500-foot smokestack that the governor says has been the source of significant pollution over the decades.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
The smokestack can be seen from Interstate 95 as you drive through the city.
PSEG announced it was retiring the Bridgeport coal-powered plant back on June 1 of 2021, saying it was part of the company's long-term coal exit strategy.
Over the years, the plant has only been used during peak energy demands to supply power to southern Connecticut.
Local
PSEG had also opened a natural gas power plant in Bridgeport in 2019, which offset the need for this one.
PSEG released a statement on Tuesday saying:
“We’re pleased to reach this agreement and appreciate the support of the State of Connecticut and the City of Bridgeport. We’re looking forward to the redevelopment of the Bridgeport waterfront.”
