NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk
DUNKIRK – Local, State and even national officials are weighing in following the news that the effort to Repower the NRG power plant in Dunkirk has been put on hold.
NRG Energy made the announcement on Tuesday, saying the Dunkirk plant will have all four units shutdown by the start of 2016. The reason sited is a pending lawsuit filed by Entergy Corporation – which is trying to stop the RePower project, which involves the conversion of the facility from a coal plant to a facility that burns both coal and natural gas.
The lawsuit has created “massive uncertainty” for the Dunkirk plant which has a ten year contract approved in June of 2014.
In addition to the news regarding the Dunkirk Plant, NRG has also filed an application to close the Huntley coal facility in Tonawanda by March 2016. The company says low natural gas prices, low energy prices and low capacity prices are behind the decision concerning the Tonawanda facility.
The 145 workers at the two plants were informed of the plan on Tuesday morning.
Following the announcement, Senator Cathy Young blasted the lawsuit and called on Entergy to drop their anti-ratepayer lawsuit immediately. She said the litigation is nothing more than an attempt by the company to get rid of competition so they can keep prices high and make enormous profits.
She also said that the state is still committed to moving forward with the repowering project, vowing to not stop fighting.
Congressman Tom Reed has also weighed in on the issue, saying that coal and gas burning Power plants like NRG reduce the nation’s dependence on Middle East crude, lower energy bills, and provide jobs.
Reed said that stopping the conversion of the Dunkirk Facility isn’t fair to the community and he will do what he can to fight the lawuit and ensure the project moves forward.
The NRG Power Plant is the largest taxpayer in Chautauqua County and employs over 100 people, with 50 more jobs expected once the full conversion takes place.
So what’s in it for Entergy? I would think that some future project they may have planned would be in jeopardy if the Public Service Commission was able to stop it. By filing a suit saying that the PSC had overstepped it’s bounds and that the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission has jurisdiction; a precedent setting ruling that would work in their favor could be in the offing.
Please try relating FACTS in your articles. The Governor agreed to unlawfully subsidize fossil fuel plants UNFAIRLY making clean alternative energies (like the FAR more reliable nuclear plants in the state… in a state where we have a ton of snow, long winters, and natural gas and coal plants have to shut down due to low temperatures…. but the nuke plants dont have a down day….) no longer competitive or economically viable… So all of those jobs you were just talking about… are instead being threatened to be taken from the two single unit plants elsewhere in NYS.
Think about it this way… You are selling lemonade. Your two next door neighbors are selling lemonade. Yours is fresh squeezed and clean. Theirs is from powder and their water has all kinds of contaminants in it that could make people sick. You are all selling your lemonade for 25 cents a glass. The homeowner’s association comes along and gives your two neighbors enough money that they can now sell their lemonade for 5 cents a glass, but decides not to give you anything…. How would you feel about that? That is what is happening to single unit plants in NYS. Seems like New York really isnt all that committed to the environment after all…
Now try reading the story accurately, IN CONTEXT -WITHOUT- the assumptions and accusations….
http://www.syracuse.com/business-news/index.ssf/2015/03/cuomos_deal_with_dunkirk_power_plant_unlawfully_costs_national_grid_ratepayers_2.html
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2015/09/8575889/analyst-cuomo-may-need-keep-states-nuclear-plants-alive
Thank you.
Sarah