By William Opalka

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has accused NRG Energy of reneging on an agreement to repower the shuttered Dunkirk coal-fired power plant and ordered state regulators to investigate whether consumers were “defrauded.”

In a letter to the Public Service Commission on Tuesday, Cuomo said its report should determine why the repowering was not done, the financial impact on consumers and whether NRG should be allowed to operate in the state.

“New York welcomes fair-minded and public-oriented independent power producers as important members of our economic community and our electric industry. We cannot, however, tolerate companies that take advantage of consumers to achieve ill-gotten gains,” Cuomo wrote.

Cuomo said NRG received $110 million from National Grid ratepayers from 2012 to 2015 to keep Dunkirk operating after it announced its decision to mothball the plant. Repowering to natural gas was supposed to have been completed last September.

NRG responded on Thursday that it is “very surprised” by the letter and said Cuomo’s assertion “contradicts the facts.”

“NRG’s Dunkirk facility kept the lights on in Western New York for the past two years, based on a 2012 contract approved by the governor’s own Public Service Commission. Over that time, our Dunkirk employees delivered near flawless performance — at the price agreed to in advance by the state,” company spokesman David Gaier said in a statement.

“NRG has invested in the Dunkirk facility and the local community, and we made more than $16 million in property tax payments over the past two years. We stand by everything we’ve done to support the power grid and ratepayers in Western New York. We’ll respond more fully in the days ahead with the facts,” he continued.

Repowering of Dunkirk to natural gas was approved by the PSC after the company negotiated financial incentives with the governor. The plant ceased operations on Dec. 31 at the conclusion of a reliability support services agreement that paid it above-market rates to remain operating to ensure grid reliability.

However, the repowering agreement was challenged in federal court by another generator who claimed it illegally suppressed wholesale prices in New York. NRG put the repowering project on hold, saying the lawsuit created too much uncertainty to proceed. (See NRG Plant Closures Could Impact Reliability in NY.)

Cuomo said he wants the PSC report “as soon as practicable.”