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Opposition Mounts Against New York Nuclear Plant Aid

Nearly 70 locally elected officials in New York are calling on Democratic GovernorAndrew Cuomo to halt a tax subsidy program that would allow three aging nuclear power plants to remain open upstate.

A group of legislators, town supervisors and councilmembers signed a letter to Cuomo on Monday requesting the state pause the program set to begin April 1 and publicly reassess clean energy options.

Cuomo has said keeping the plants open would provide reliable energy as New York transitions half its power to renewable sources by 2030.

Some environmentalists who oppose the program estimate its cost at up to $7.6 billion over 12 years.

The Public Service Commission says the program will cost about $1 billion in the first two years but cannot predict additional costs.

© 2017 AP

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Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.