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How are communities near Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants reacting to deactivation?

Combined, the two plants employ 1,500 workers, including more than 700 at the Perry plant near Painesville.

Communities in Lake and Ottawa counties are reacting to the news that the Perry and Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plants are slated to be deactivated by FirstEnergy Solutions.

Combined, the two plants employ 1,500 workers, including more than 700 at the Perry plant near Painesville.

Thursday night, Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino took to Facebook to list some of the trickle-down effects of the closure.

The biggest loser in a plant shutdown in Perry would be the Perry Local School District.

"Municipalities become very reliant on that revenue," Superintendent Jack Thompson told WKYC Channel 3. "That has certainly been the case in Perry. Having the power plant has certainly been a strong resource for us for years, And it's gonna be devastating to see them go."

Tax revenue from the plant accounts for 25% of the district's revenue, allowing Perry to build a beautiful campus while not having to ask voters to pass a tax levy since 1976.

The school district is not alone. A number of Lake County offices including children's services, ADAMHS board, and the board of DD will all lose money.

County leaders say they plan to fight the closure, hoping to convince First Energy to find reasons to keep it open.

Out in Ottawa County, Davis-Besse's neighbors and residents are worried about what would happen when contractors stop coming to the plant for scheduled refueling outages and maintenance cycles.

A 2015 study by the Nuclear Energy Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes nuclear power, found that for every dollar of output from Davis-Besse, the local economy produces $1.66 and the state economy produces $2.25.

Davis-Besse’s operation generates $805 million of annual economic output in Ottawa County and $1.1 billion statewide.

“It’s not time to panic, but certainly it’s disappointing,” said Guy Parmigian, superintendent of Benton-Carroll-Salem Schools. “This is really tough news.”

Taxes from the plant represent about 40 percent of the school district’s total annual revenue.

Meanwhile FirstEnergy Solutions may be filing for bankruptcy as soon as Friday.

The Port Clinton News Herald and the Fremont News-Messenger contributed to this report

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