Repowering the NRG plant in Dunkirk has seen its ups and downs since 2012. But it appears now that the refiring from coal to natural gas isn’t going to happen. P-J file photo

DUNKIRK — NRG officially announced Wednesday evening that it has withdrawn its Dunkirk application from the NYISO 2017 Class Year interconnection process. The company’s plan to repower the Dunkirk power plant from coal to natural gas is no more.

The following is a statement from NRG regarding its decision:

“NRG has withdrawn its Dunkirk application from the NYISO 2017 Class Year interconnection process. We appreciate the unwavering support of Dunkirk and Chautauqua County, including the efforts of U.S. Representative Tom Reed, Senator Cathy Young, Assemblyman Andy Goodell and others. NRG invested millions of dollars over several years including voluntarily paying the full tax of $8-plus million/year even when it was not required.

The project was put on hold in 2015 because of an Entergy lawsuit filed against the NYPSC challenging the legality of the Dunkirk contract.

We moved forward once the lawsuit was dropped, but the delay rendered Dunkirk a new project — requiring the NYISO interconnection process and its associated costs of $15 million. More recently, we were informed that these costs could rise to nearly $114 million inclusive of NYISO, PJM and National Grid. Additionally, these interconnection upgrades may not be ready until 2024, further delaying the project. This financial uncertainty, along with a significant schedule delay, rendered the project unworkable.

Locals may recall a hot summer night in 2013 when NRG stood shoulder-to-shoulder with 2000 supporters to argue in favor of repowering Dunkirk. We share the community’s disappointment that this project has not come to fruition.”