NRG’s failure to repower here does nothing to help high electric rates in our region.

On Friday afternoon, around 5 p.m., Western New York was paying some of the highest rates for power in the state. According to the New York Independent System Operator zone maps, our area was paying $51.92 per MWh, that was second to only Long Island, which was paying $52.34 per MWh.

In other words, we are at the mercy of out-of-state suppliers. That was never the case until recently.

State Sen. Catharine Young and Assemblyman Andrew Goodell are hopeful a solution can be found to a now all but empty power station along the Dunkirk waterfront. There’s some hope there could be a new supplier for electricity at the site. That gets tempered by the fact since NRG owns it, they may not want someone else coming in to use it.

In the past, the tax base the NRG plant generated was the major issue. In recent weeks, especially with the heat, it now is the cost and delivery.

There has to be a better way.