Write a commentOn Friday, community leaders met in Cayuga Community College’s event center for a Nuclear Energy Forum.
The talk was positioned as the first of many conversations about new nuclear in Oswego County. The discussion is a consequence of Governor Hochul’s goal of adding 5gW of new nuclear power, which was announced during her State of the State Address in January 2026.
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is already speaking with interested communities about potential sites for the new plant(s), including Oswego County. If our area is chosen, the proposed new unit(s) would be added on the same property as the existing nuclear infrastructure at Nine Mile Point and/or Fitzpatrick.
The attendees list reads like a who’s who of Oswego County, including multiple Oswego County Legislators, County Administrator Phil Church, State Senator Chris Ryan, State Assemblyman Will Barclay, State Senator Mark Walczyk, various CEOs, high-level figures from the Chamber and Operation Oswego County, and other public figures.
The forum was moderated by Assemblyman Will Barclay and focused on the many possible benefits of a new nuclear power plant for the Oswego County area. The all-male panel included Rich Barlette, Director of State and Government Affairs at Constellation; Marcus Nichol, Executive Director of New Nuclear at the Nuclear Energy Institute; Oswego County Administrator Phil Church; Centerstate CEO President and CEO Rob Simpson; and Greg Lancette, International Representative for the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe-fitting Industry.
Questions posed to the panel included the general benefits of nuclear power compared to renewable sources like wind and solar, how well Oswego County is poised to add more nuclear compared to other sites, economic benefits, and the impact on electricity rates.
Centerstate CEO President Rob Simpson noted the area’s growing need for more power, saying, “Our region’s economic development pipeline has changed over last 10 years, and it is 80% weighted to advanced manufacturing projects that are often energy intensive.”
Because CNY has water sources and land available for development, Simpson added that our region is “well-positioned to attract projects dependent on energy intensive power loads.”
The panel seemed unable to find any potential downside to more nuclear, with County Administrator Phil Church going so far as to say that Oswego’s community is already completely on board with adding one or even two more units at the Constellation sites. “We’re shovel ready,” he announced confidently.
There was no mention of how additional nuclear waste would be handled or how it may impact the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary.
When the floor was opened for questions, Vice-Chair of the Oswego County Legislature Mary Ellen Chesbro asked if new transmission lines would be needed to handle the additional power production, and if so, who would pay for them. “It’s a complex question,” replied Rich Barlette of Constellation. He noted that factors include who the new unit’s “anchor customer” might be, the state of lines where they are located, as well as the type of lines needed and the types of commercial agreements reached. “We are constrained sometimes on the Scriba-Volney line,” he added.
Oswego County Legislator Lee Walker Jr. also addressed the panel. “So many of my constituents and neighbors are worried about how to pay their National Grid bills—it’s all anyone is talking about. Is there a way to codify perhaps a 10% discount within the county to provide cheaper power to our residents?”
The question was taken up by Rich Barlette of Constellation, who did not address the question but instead rhetorically asked about the cost of reliability within the grid.
Barlette had earlier reported that the cost for building the next AP1000 unit would certainly be less than the last due to Constellation’s experience and that the process would move faster than any other sites because so much of the infrastructure is already in place. He also noted that Constellation is the largest energy producer on the planet.
We at iHeart Oswego want to know: do you support adding more nuclear power in Scriba? Do you have concerns? Send your thoughts to [email protected].
