Controversial Repowering of the Cayuga and Dunkirk Coal-fired Power Plants

The cost of repowering the two plants could cost as much as $1.5 billion—a cost that would fall to ratepayers. Upgrading transmission lines would accomplish the same goal for under $100 million.

Regional Office / Program

Case Overview

Earthjustice represented a group of elected officials in repowering proceedings before New York’s Public Service Commission. At issue was a controversial, precedent-setting decision: whether to repower the uneconomic coal-burning Cayuga and Dunkirk power plants with natural gas—a plan that would lock the region into continued use of fossil fuels and hike electricity bills for people and businesses across a 20-county region in western and central New York, or take the plants offline and instead upgrade the transmission lines—a cleaner and far less expensive option.

The cost of repowering the two plants could cost as much as $1.5 billion—a cost that would fall to ratepayers. Upgrading transmission lines would accomplish the same goal for under $100 million.

The Dunkirk power plant.
The Dunkirk power plant. Repowering the two plants would lock the region into continued use of fossil fuels and hike electricity bills. (Photo courtesy of Seabamirum / Flickr)

Case Updates

The Cayuga power plant.
February 23, 2016 Press Release: Victory

New York PSC Denies Expensive Cayuga Power Repowering Application

Decision saves ratepayers millions of dollars and sets stage for end of coal-burning

September 29, 2014 Press Release

Community Advocates Challenge $150 Million Coal Plant Bailout in Western New York

Expensive bailout would result in a plant three times larger than necessary

September 26, 2014 Document

Dunkirk Repowering Article 78 Memo of Law

By order dated June 13, 2014, the New York Public Service Commission approved a repowering agreement for the Dunkirk coal-burning power plant that requires National Grid ratepayers to subsidize a generating facility three times larger than is need ed to maintain grid reliability at a cost four times that of equally reliable transmission alternatives.