LONDONDERRY TOWNSHIP, DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. - On the one year anniversary of Three Mile Island's closure announcement, some local leaders come together on City Island to rally support to save the power plant. Supporters say the closure of TMI would have devastating effects on the community.
Clean Jobs for Pennsylvania leaders and supporters of keeping Three Mile Island in operation have a little more than a year to do so. May 30th marks the anniversary of the nuclear power plant announcing it would prematurely close in the fall of 2019, years before its license expiration in 2034.
675 jobs will be lost if TMI shuts down. On top of that, supporters fighting to keep the plant open say its shut down would have devastating financial effects on the regional community.
“We’re going to have to make up that revenue somewhere else," said Anna Dale, Londonderry Township supervisor. "Which means the state will probably raise the state income tax. We’ll probably look a higher school taxes, we’ll also look at higher real estate taxes in our community.”
Several lawmakers hoping to pen legislation that would save TMI have spent the last year educating themselves on what the best step forward should be. With the clock ticking, they are eyeing the next legislation session in January 2019.
“You can’t just throw things against the wall and hope they stick," said State Rep. Tom Mehaffie. "We want to come up with something that’s gonna be good for Pennsylvanians, good for the industry and all those that are effected by this.”
Rep. Mehaffie says the legislation would aim to not only help Three Mile Island but the other four nuclear power plants as well.