Local, state, and federal officials are scrambling to figure out ways to stop Entergy from closing the FitzPatrick Nuclear Power plant in Oswego County. The company announced Monday that it will close down the unprofitable plant after the reactor runs out of fuel in late 2016 or early 2017. Among those looking to find ways to keep the plant on the grid, is U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, who intended to make an angry phone call to the CEO of Entergy.
"I intend to tell him how furious I am at the callous closing of this plant," said Schumer. "I will also tell him it is obligation to look at everything federal, state and local, so he can reverse this decision.”
Schumer said if Entergy won't change their minds, he'll look into ways to force the company to keep the plant running.
"Hopefully they can be persuaded to reverse it, or we can stop them even if they’re not persuaded. That’s what I’m going to look at.”
One of the best routes of doing that, according to Schumer, might be going through the New York State Public Service Commission.
“The PSC for instance, has to approve of such a closing, and reliability is a key aspect of what the PSC will look at," he said. "So there are ways that we can try to avoid this closing, and I’ll do everything I can to see that happens.”
Schumer says even if Entergy doesn’t agree to revisit the decision, he’ll look for ways to reverse it without the company's cooperation. And he won’t forget what happened here.
"This is going to affect my relationship with Entergy as a whole, and they come to the federal government for a whole lot of stuff,” he said.
Earlier Monday, an Entergy spokesman told WRVO that it is "very unlikely" the company would reverse it's decision.
