(DUNKIRK) – Southern Tier Labor Leader David Wilkinson Minces No Words When Speaking About the Role New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo Could Play If He Decided In Favor Of Repowering the NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk. 

“The Governor Has His Thumb on ‘Everything.’  There is ‘No Doubt’ About That.  All He Would Have to Do is Go to the (New York State) Public Service Commission and Tell Them He ‘Wants’ That Plant Repowered in Dunkirk.  It Would Be the ‘End of the Story’ and You Can’t Convince Me Otherwise,” Wilkinson Told WNYLaborToday.com Earlier This Week.

Wilkinson’s Comments Came Just Days After a Group of Around 700 – a Coalition of Political, Union, Business and Concerned Citizens – Rallied in Cold Weather on Saturday (December 7th) on Lake Erie’s Harbor Front in Dunkirk to Voice Their Support For the Repowering the Chautauqua County Plant from its Current Coal-Fired Status to a Natural Gas Generation Plant.

“I Told Those at the Rally that We Will Lose Hundreds of Good-Paying Jobs and Property and Sales Taxes.  From Labor’s Standpoint, It’s Up to the Governor,” the New President of the Jamestown AFL-CIO Central Labor Council (Pictured Above/WNYLaborToday.com File Photo) Told Your Regional, On-Line Labor Newspaper Earlier This Week.  “In Second Grade I Learned that Chautauqua County Is In Western New York, but the Governor Apparently Doesn’t Know That Because He 'Didn’t Receive' a 'Public Education.'  You Just Can’t Keep Pushing Us Down and Expecting Us to Get Back Up.”

With the Temperature in the Low 20s and Blowing Wind and Snow, the Number of Those Attending the Rally Grew by the Minute, said Wilkinson, who also Serves as Business Manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 106 in Jamestown: “I Went Inside to Do a Newspaper Interview and There Were Only About Twenty-Five People Outside.  When I Came Out, I Couldn’t Believe It – There Were People Ten Deep from the Podium Down to the End of the Pier in the Shadow of the Power Plant.  I Was So Impressed.”

Meanwhile, Wilkinson and Supporters of Repowering the NRG Plant are Gearing Up for a Major Rally that Will be Held in Albany on Thursday, December 19th to Further Impress Upon the Governor to “Personally Get Involved in This Process.”

“From What We Can Tell Right Now, There is No ‘Drop Dead’ Deadline,” Wilkinson said.  “We Must Continue to Educate Our Community to What Will Happen If the Dunkirk Plant is Not Repowered.  We ‘Will’ Lose Jobs.  The Community ‘Will’ Suffer Due to Loss of Property Taxes, Which Will Negatively Impact Our School System.  Teachers Will Lose Their Jobs Too.  But If We Repower the Plant, That Will Be Saved and We Will Create Hundreds of Good-Paying Jobs to Repower Dunkirk.  It All Makes Sense.”

Wilkinson Plans to Travel to Albany to Take Part in the Rally and He Possibly Will Publicly Repeat the Message He Delivered in Dunkirk Over the Weekend.  According to Southern Tier Media Reports, Wilkinson Told the Crowd on Saturday: "(This is) ‘Our’ Day to ‘Send a Message.’  Governor Cuomo - You ‘Better Hear Us Because ‘We're Not Going to Stop.’  We Need Your Help Today.  All (Governor Cuomo) Has to Do is ‘Say So’ and this Community Moves Forward.  So Governor Cuomo, ‘You’ Need to Hear Us.  We Can No Longer Afford to have Albany ‘Press Down’ on Us.  If You Want this Community to Survive - Don't ‘Press’ On Us, ‘Pull Us Up’ Because We're Not Leaving."

Wilkinson Implored Those at the Rally to Take Advantage of Several Social Media Outlets as a Means to Reach and Educate People Here in Western New York and Across New York State in Order to “To Let Them Know About the Benefits of the Project for the Local Economy.”

Supporters were also Urged to Log On to the Internet and Go To www.powerupwny.org, and “Send a Message to the Governor and the State PSC and ‘Voice Your Support’ for Repowering the Dunkirk Plant,” Wilkinson added.

NRG Energy Incorporated is Proposing the Conversion of the Existing Dunkirk Coal Facility to a Combined-Cycle Plant that would be Powered by Clean Natural Gas.  If Done, the Plant Would Have the Generating Capacity Of 420-440 MW - Enough To Power Approximately 350,000 Average Homes.

In Addition, Supporters of the Project Say It Will: Preserve Local Jobs At Dunkirk; Create as Many as 500 Jobs During a 36-Month Construction Cycle; Lower the Cost of Wholesale Energy in New York by Up To $300 Million/Year; Ensure a Stable and Predictable Tax Base In Chautauqua County and Dunkirk For Years to Come, Which Would Support Local Schools and Services; Generate Dramatically Cleaner Energy and Improve Air Quality in Western New York by Significantly Reducing All Major Emissions; Reduce Congestion and Make Transmission Lines of the Western New York Electrical System More Efficient; Helping to Reduce Ratepayer Costs; and Provide Support For Renewable Energy Generation, Especially Wind Power Across the Region.