The Cayuga Power Plant will remain open -- at least for the next three and a half years.  Upstate New York Power Producers CEO Jerry Goodenough notified local officials Wednesday that the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) has extended the current Reliability Support Services Agreement (RSSA) until June 30, 2017.

"This makes me extremely happy and gives us some breathing space, but the work is not done," says Lansing's representative to the Tompkins COunty Legislature Mike Sigler.  "We still need to get this plant repowered with natural gas ."

The RSSA is a contract between the power plant and NYSEG that calls for the plant to continue operating to stabilize the local transmission system.

"This is good news for the folks at the plant, for the community, and for the local municipalities, at least in the short term of the next 3.5 years," said Goodenough.

The extension may signal good news for the repowering of the plant from coal to natural gas.  A PSC decision on repowering the plant was expected at the end of 2013, but instead the commission granted another extension until February 28th to allow the plant and NYSEG to come up with a revised repowering proposal that is mutually agreeable.

"As far as the repower project, we are continuing our efforts working with NYSEG and the PSC," Goodenough says.

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