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After more than three years the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) voted Tuesday to deny a plan to repower the coal-powered Cayuga Power Plant with natural gas.  At the same time the sale of the 300 megawatt Lansing plant and the 675 megawatt Somerset Power Plant by Upstate New York Power Producers (UNYPP) to Riesling Power LLC was approved.  Denying support of the repowering plan was one of many items on the PSC's 'Consent Agenda', a group of items that do not require discussion because the decision is made on documents and prior discussion by Commissioners.  But PSC Chair Audrey Zimmerman chose to address the Cayuga plant explicitly before she called for a vote.

"The order recommends that we do not approve the repowering of the Cayuga Power Plant resources finding that that is not in the public interest," she said.  "Just to be clear, we are not suggesting that Cayuga cannot repower on its own, but we are finding that it would not be in the public interest, not be in the interest of NYSEG ratepayers to pay for that repowering, because it is more expensive and not needed in light of the fact that we do need transmission regardless."

"Obviously I'm disappointed.  It's a real blow to the county and town," said Tompkins County Legislature (Lansing) Mike Sigler.  "The plant will keep operating for a while, so we have a little time to plan on the tax revenue loss."

"We care about protecting quality, family-sustaining jobs provided by this plant and bringing more of them to Tompkins County," U.S. Congressman Tom Reed said Wednesday.  "We also support clean, affordable, reliable energy for our region. Bureaucrats in Albany have once again blocked jobs and lower utility costs for families and manufacturers without considering the real consequences of their actions. It isn't right to stop these jobs from coming to Lansing and the region and we remain committed to standing with all of the employees impacted by this decision."

While Reed weighed in with his support of the repowering plan, he wasn't able to do much more than any supporter of the plan.  He says that he will continue to fight for job friendly policies in Washington, but the federal government has no jurisdiction in decisions like this one.


The PSC decision is sure to please the numerous people and officials around Tompkins County that have aggressively opposed the repowering plan.  NYS Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton favored closing the plant, arguing that now is the time to replace fossil fueled energy sources with renewable ones.

"Of course, given how hard I've worked on this issue, I was happy to hear that the Public Service Commission rejected the repowering of the Cayuga Power Plant with natural gas and has favored the upgrading of transmission lines to address our local energy needs," says Lifton.  "I do believe that it's the right decision, both for our economy and the environment."

But other officials expressed concern both for employees of the plant and for property owners who won't be able to bear the additional tax burden if the plant fails to remain open.  Lansing Supervisor Ed LaVigne said that the Town government is in good shape even if the plant closes.  But he expressed consternation over the consequences of the decision.

"You're hurting people financially and hurting their communities with these types of decisions," he said Tuesday, an hour after the decision was made.  "Where is our power going to come from?  It is baffling sometimes when you hear about all these plants being shut down.  how is the power going to be generated?  I would really like those questions answered.  If you're simply going to import your power from the same source in a different state (that drills for gas in a way) that you're trying to prevent, what have you really accomplished?"

"According to recent state reports, the state will now be short on generating capacity," Sigler concurred.  "We're outsourcing our generation to other states.  I guess the state prefers casino jobs over power generation jobs.  I'm hoping the state will in the future prefer generating its own power to be self sufficient and the plant will stay online.  Forever the optimist."


The greatest concern for Lansing taxpayers is the annual $1.3 million revenue loss the School District will suffer if the plant closes.  Even without that loss the District is considering a 78% budget reduction for next year's $28.150,000 projected budget.  School officials are lobbying for state legislative approval that will allow the district to create a special reserve fund that can be used to mitigate tax rises for homeowners resulting from a possible plant closing.  School Superintendent Chris Pettograsso said she will be contacting Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton to learn about transition funds that Lifton has been advocating the State provide for communities like Lansing that suddenly lose a large amount of tax revenue.

"I have called for transition funding," Lifton said yesterday.  "At the end of last year's legislative session, we allocated $19 million to assist communities that are affected by coal plant retirements. We still have some work to do in the legislature to figure out how this funding will be allocated to different areas of the state, but I will continue to fight for this funding for my district."

School Business Administrator Mary June King said this week that it is not clear how the PSC decision will impact the future of the plant.

LaVigne expressed some optimism that the sale of the plant may mean that the new owners have a plan to keep it open beyond its current energy reliability contract. Plant officials won't say at this time what the outcome will be for the Cayuga plant.  The Lansing Star asked UNYPP Chief Operating Officer Jerry Goodenough whether the new owners would upgrade the plant at their own expense, whether it is feasible to continue operations as a coal plant, and how local jobs would be impacted in the long and short term, he did not have answers.

"Right now, my focus is on transition to the new owners (which the PSC approved today)," he said Tuesday.  "All your questions are good ones, and I will have to address them all in good time."


The fact that the sale is going through is seen by some local officials as an indication that the new owners do intend to keep the two plants open.  That notion seems to be supported by an article reported by Politico New York in December, in which Riesling spokesman Michael Enright was quoted.

"We will be looking to make investments into each facility to support their long-term value, although at this point we are primarily focused on gaining the approval of the PSC and FERC for these acquisitions and integrating the 200 employees at these plants into our company,"  Enright said. "The State and PSC have the difficult job of balancing environmental, economic and energy demands in order to ensure a reliable grid for New York. We plan to work with them and other major stakeholders to achieve that balance."

LaVigne says he hopes that means the new owners will invest in the Lansing plant to make it a viable business again.  But Lifton expressed doubts that the company will choose to repower it.

"As I understand it, they could theoretically do that, but I'm not sure that would make sense financially for the operators, given the decision of the PSC on transmission upgrades, which should fill the need for power," she said.  "It seems unlikely that the PSC would approve anything now that adds to the burdens of taxpayers when reliability is no longer at stake."

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