The study concluded that, overall, the redevelopment strategy for the NRG Power Plant would have the greatest benefits if it allowed the community to access workforce development opportunities, generated tax revenue, included a clean energy component, supported public access to the waterfront, and aided in comprehensive economic development for the region.

The study also includes recommendations of immediate next steps that the City of Dunkirk and Chautauqua County should advance in order to better understand site/building constraints and future opportunities, to position the site for funding to facilitate redevelopment. These include: continuing to collaborate with NRG Energy; pursuing a Build-Ready Program Application through NYSERDA; conducting additional environmental investigations; investigating interconnection costs; completing energy modeling; collaborating with the NYS Climate Justice Working Group; and performing site marketing and promotion.

The NRG Power Plant operated from the 1950s until 2015. It was officially mothballed in 2016, with the decommissioning process beginning in 2020. The NRG Power Plant was an economic engine in the City of Dunkirk, contributing to approximately 40 percent of the City’s tax base and providing close to 150 well-paying jobs at its peak.

The study was funded by a $60,000 Appalachian Regional Commission POWER grant with local matching funds from the City of Dunkirk, the County IDA, and the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation.

NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk

DUNKIRK – Congressman Tom Reed announced Wednesday that Bergman Associates from Buffalo has been chosen to move forward as consultants on the NRG Redevelopment Alternative and Feasibility Study in Dunkirk.

The study will look at all facets of the project and determine at least three different ways for Dunkirk to move forward with the facility.

In 2018, it was announced by NRG that the plant would not be repowered due to the expenses involved.

In early 2019, Reed announced a $60,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant to help fund the study.

NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk

DUNKIRK – Congressman Tom Reed Thursday announced a $60,000 grant to the city of Dunkirk to help cover the cost of a redevelopment feasibility study of the NRG power plant site.

In the summer of 2018, NRG announced it would not pursue repowering the plant due to the costs involved.

According to Congressman Reed, not only have jobs been lost due to the plant not being repowered, but the loss of tax revenue has also had an impact on the Dunkirk area and required the use of state aid to cover tax losses for the city, Dunkirk School Distirct, and county. Across the three entities, $5.4 million was received in state aid for 2017.

The $60,000 grant was generated by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Reed said it will fund a study to guide the redevelopment of the site into a productive and tax-generating property and includes an assessment of the assets and liabilities of the site, market analysis, reuse strategy alternatives, and recommended actions.

NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk

DUNKIRK – The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency says it will be moving forward with trying to complete a feasibility study to determine the future of the NRG power plant in Dunkirk.

The Post-Journal is reporting that during the IDA’s monthly meeting on Tuesday, executive director Mark Geise informed the IDA board that it is working with the city of Dunkirk on the issue and a grant application to conduct a feasibility study on the plant has been sent out.

The IDA is requesting $60,000 in the grant application through the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Earlier this year NRG announced that it would not repower the NRG plant, due to the costs associated with reconnecting the plant to the state power grid. Before the announcement the company was working to convert the Dunkirk-based facility from a coal-burning plant to a natural gas-burning one.

NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk

DUNKIRK – The Jamestown Post-Journal is reporting that NRG officially announced Wednesday it has withdrawn its Dunkirk application from the New York Independent System Operator interconnection process. As a result the company’s plan to repower the Dunkirk power plant from coal to natural gas – which has been more than five years in the making – is no more.

NRG says it was informed by the state System Operator that the cost to re-interconnect the plant would cost in excess of $100 million. An NRG spokesman had said that originally no interconnection costs were forecast.

The State System Operator, however, is reported to say that NRG’s decision to keep the facility out of service longer than originally stated meant the original interconnection rights had expired. Part of the delay was due to a lawsuit NRG had to deal with back in 2015 that challenged the legality of the repowering effort.

The plan was to convert the 530 megawatt coal burning facility to 450 megawatt gas burning facility and it appeared to be on track to take place earlier this year until the interconnection cost became an issue.

“NRG has stuck a dagger in the heart of our community,” State Sen. Cathy Young (R-Olean) said in a statment. “Our people have consistently rallied on behalf of the company since they mothballed the plant in 2013, standing by them through thick and thin. We have fought long and hard, put in place state incentives, and had a commitment to repower. The eventual loss of tax revenue will be devastating to the city, school district and county.”

When in operation, the power plant employed over 100 people, with 50 more jobs projected once the full conversion took place.

The facility is also the county’s largest property tax payer and was paying a significant portion of property taxes to both the city of Dunkirk and the Dunkirk School District.

“Because we were successful in establishing a $45 million state mitigation fund to help offset revenue losses, there will not be an immediate impact to local services and programs, which should be reassuring to local taxpayers,” Young said. “Additionally, as a member of the Financial Restructuring Review Board (FRB), I am working on other funding solutions aimed at helping Dunkirk taxpayers.”

Local and state officials say they plan to soon meet to discuss the future of the site.

NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk

DUNKIRK – The effort to repower Chautauqua County’s largest property taxpayer appears to be over for good.

That’s according to the Jamestown Post-Journal, which reports Wednesday that county officials were made aware Monday of NRG’s decision to back off from the plant’s conversion from coal to a cleaner alternative in natural gas.

The plan was to convert the 530 megawatt coal burning facility to 450 megawatt gas burning facility and it appeared to be on track to take place earlier this year. However, concerns arose last month from NRG over the unanticipated cost of interconnecting the plant to the regional electrical power system and the schedule to get it done.

NRG says it was informed by the New York Independent System Operator that the cost to re-interconnect the plant would cost in excess of $100 million. An NRG spokesman had said that originally no interconnection costs were forecast.

The State System Operator, however, is reported to say that NRG’s decision to keep the facility out of service longer than originally stated meant the original interconnection rights had expired. If NRG had reactivated the facility within three years following the company’s decision to deactivate the plant, it could have avoided the need for system upgrades.

A little over six years has passed since NRG officials initially planned to mothball the facility.

The facility is the county’s largest property tax payer and was paying a significant portion of property taxes to both the city of Dunkirk and the Dunkirk School District. Those tax payments were adjusted when the facility was mothballed, though NY state had provided some aid to help offset the loss. A payment in lieu of tax arrangement was also revised by the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency in February 2017.

The IDA could now decide whether to continue or cancel the PILOT. If the arrangement was canceled, NRG would be forced to pay property taxes based on the current value of the plant. Without an NRG tax payment, city and school taxes in the Dunkirk area could increase by more than 42 percent.  For the average homeowner, this could raise property taxes by about $1,000 a year.

When operation, the power plant employed over 100 people, with 50 more jobs being projected once the full conversion took place.

NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk

DUNKIRK – It appears the fate of the county’s largest property tax payer is once again in jeopardy.

The Dunkirk Observer is reporting that the repowering of the NRG generating plant in Dunkirk from coal to natural gas is once again facing uncertainty.

In 2013, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the Dunkirk-based power plant would repower and be converted from a coal burning facility to a natural gas facility.

But lawsuits and other delays have halted the conversion, and the plant has remained shuddered the past several years.  However, it was expected to come back online eventually, but that now seems doubtful.

Due to the unanticipated cost of interconnecting the plant to the regional electrical power system and the schedule in getting it done, NRG officials say it may be too costly to reconnect the plant to the power grid once it is converted.

The New York Independent System Operator manages the state’s electrical grid and its competitive wholesale markets. It recently said that the cost of the interconnection could exceed $100 million. The entire repowering project is estimated to be about $15 million.

In response, Sen. Cathy Young stated that the repowering of NRG has been a high priority with a lot of work taking place between state and local officials and stakeholders throughout the community. She said it was outrageous that the system operator has put the entire project at risk with the estimate cost of interconnecting, especially with the conversion process moving into its final phases.

Young said she will continue working with NRG officials to ensure the project comes to fruition.

Prior to being shuddered, the plant was the county’s largest property tax payer and it also made significant tax payments to both the city of Dunkirk and Dunkirk School District. It continues to make PILOT payments as it proceeds through the conversion process and New York State has also offered funding to help offset the loss of local tax dollars due to the plant being mothballed.

The State Capitol, Albany NY.

ALBANY – New York will become the first state to make tuition at public colleges and universities free for middle-class students. The tuition initiative is part of a new $153 billion state budget approved Sunday by the state Senate, a day after the Assembly approved it.

Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed the tuition plan, which will cost an estimated $163 million. In-state students whose families earn $125,000 or less will be eligible.

The budget also includes provisions allowing the ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft to expand upstate, which could be allowed as early as July 8. The budget also raises the age of adult criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 and includes a renewed 421a subsidy for real estate developers.

Locally, both the city of Jamestown and Dunkirk will also both benefit from the budget.

State Senator Catharine Young (R-Olean) is announcing a $5 million budget allocation for the National Comedy Center in Jamestown. In addition, Jamestown will receive a one-shot injection of funding $2.5 million to help fund initiatives that will real in annual spending in the financially strapped city.

NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk

Both the city of Dunkirk and the Dunkirk school district will also likely receive state aid as the community continues to wait for the conversion of the NRG power plant, which is the largest source of tax revenue in the county and is located in Dunkirk.  The newly adopted budget includes $45 million for the power plant mitigation fund, and calls for the mitigation fund to be extended from five years to seven. Sen. Young said she will work directly with the Governor to secure the necessary amount from the fund to help close the gap for the city, school and county as NRG works to complete its conversion.  Chautauqua County, the City of Dunkirk and the School District had estimated an $8 million loss of revenues in 2017 without the state aid available through the mitigation fund.

School districts will also benefit from the new state budget, with overall state aid going up by 7.4 percent, or $18.4 million over the current year. Jamestown’s final overall increase will be 8.2 percent, or just over $5.2 million. With building aid excluded, the increase is 7.3 percent.

The complete state aid runs can be found online at www.budget.ny.gov.

The budget was due by April 1 but passage was delayed by difficulties in negotiations.

The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency Board of Directors and staff during the monthly meeting on Feb. 28, 2017 in Jamestown.

NOTE: Updated March 2, 2017 to include a correction in the ninth graph on the scheduled PILOT agreement for NRG when the plant was mothballed, along with a quote from NRG Spokesman David Gaier, who provided WRFA with the correction.

JAMESTOWN – The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency met on Tuesday and gave its approval to a renegotiated tax abatement agreement for the NRG power plant in Dunkirk.

Under the revised agreement, NRG – which was the largest tax payer in the county before the power plant was mothballed in 2015 – will make a total annual payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) of $420,000, which will be split between the county, the Dunkirk School District, and the city of Dunkirk. That payment will continue for the next two to three years, depending on when the power plant repowering project – which involves converting the facility from a coal burning one to natural gas – will be completed.

Chautauqua County IDA Finance Director Richard Dixon said the renegotiation was needed to accommodate for the time it will take for the power plant to resume operation, but once it’s running, they original PILOT schedule will resume.

“It’s going to be a great project, repowering and moving forward,” Dixon said. “As we discussed, it’s going from 530 megawatts to 450, but they’re still going to make their full PILOT payments that they promised to make once the facility is up and running, so it’s a win-win for everybody.”

NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk

A public hearing on the renegotiation took place last week in Dunkirk, with some residents voicing concern that the city was not invited to be part of the renegotiation process and also were disappointed that the NRG plant will not have as many employees working once the conversation is complete. As with most tax abatement deals, the number of employees a project will yield is one of the factors typically considered.

However, North County Legislator and IDA board member George Borrello (R-Irving) said that all parties were represented in the process.

“All the stakeholders, the taxing entities, were a part of this process,” Borrello said. “And when you think of where we were a year ago, when repowering wasn’t even on the table at that point, to where we are now with the lawsuit behind us and NRG ready to move forward, this is a huge step in the right direction and I think that is an important point. The bottom line is this PILOT agreement gets them to agree to pay at a higher rate, even though they are not going to be producing as much electricity, is a huge boon and a big win for Dunkirk, the North County, the School District, and everyone else involved.”

Once the power plant is back on line, NRG will again follow the original PILOT schedule that was agreed to in 2008, which goes up to over $10 million in the last year, despite a power capacity reduction from 530 megawatts to 450 megawatts.

The renegotiated PILOT payment is still about 85 percent less than what would have been paid had the NRG plant not been mothballed by the company. According to NRG spokesman David Gaier, the company actually had the option to not make any PILOT, but still opted to move forward with a payment.

“To provide some tax relief and certainty at this time, we’ve agreed to pay $420,000 annually until the first Dunkirk unit returns to service on natural gas. In addition, NRG paid $13.9 million more than we were required to – purely out of goodwill to the community rather than obligation – for tax years 2014 and 2015,” Gaier told WRFA, adding, “NRG continues to work on advancing the Dunkirk natural gas project, assuming that all other stakeholders continue to meet their previous commitments to the project.”

The loss in revenue due to the mothballing of the facility and also during the time it will take to convert the plant and get it back online will likely be offset by state mitigation aid, which Sen. Cathy Young and Assemblyman Andy Goodell have both said they are committed to bringing to Dunkirk in the upcoming state budget.

In other news, the IDA Board also approved an amendment to the subordination agreement with the Stannard Group, which involves changing financial positioning in regard to where the IDA falls in line when it comes to the group repaying on an Al Tech loan.

The IDA board also approved the creation of a Transactions Committee, which will allow the IDA to move forward with preliminary actions without the need to meet as a full board. The committee will be comprised of the board chair, the executive director, the finance director, and the project manager.

And the board approved a preliminary resolution to begin the process of negotiating a tax abatement deal with Great Lakes Cold Storage, as an incentive to get the company to build a 110,000 square-foot storage freezer warehouse at a location in Dunkirk to help assist the Fieldbrook Foods plant. Officials say if the warehouse is built, 27 new jobs would be created and there cold also be the potential for a 100,000 square-foot expansion. However, the company is also considering building a warehouse at a location in Pennsylvania, so officials want to move forward with drawing up a proposal and seeing if it will be enough to convince the company to build in Chautauqua County.

The board is expected to consider the proposed PILOT agreement for Great Lakes Storage during the March board meeting, which will also be when the full board reviews the 2016 audit.