PAINESVILLE, Ohio - The campaign to save the Perry Nuclear Power Plant is trying to enlist the general public with a rally planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at Perry High School's Goodwin Theatre, One Success Blvd. in Perry.

Scheduled to lead it are Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino and Jack Thomson, superintendent of the Perry School System, which expects to be adversely affected if the plant shuts down.

FirstEnergy wants to gets out of the power-generating business because of competition from new natural-gas plants that are cheaper to run than old-line nuclear and coal-fire generating plants.

One goal of the campaign that Cirino and Thomson are spearheading is to get the government to make the plant profitable enough to sell, instead of closing.

Local officials have said the issue is not just about Perry schools, nor is it meant to benefit FirstEnergy.

Cirino said last fall that the Perry plant is the largest taxpayer in Lake County, paying more than $50 million each year. Tax revenue also flows from the plant's workforce of 800. The loss of revenue could affect every community in the county.

Also on the rally agenda is Gary Leidich, a former president of First Energy Generation Co., according to a press release. He is expected to promote nuclear energy, and to argue that it has a role in Ohio's future.

Absent a government bailout in some form, there is a chance that First Energy Solutions, the power company's generating subsidiary, could face bankruptcy this year.

But this comes at a time when neither the state nor federal government wants to lend a hand, and when a recent poll shows that Ohio conservatives are warming to idea of renewable energy.

FirstEnergy also owns the Davis-Besse nuclear plant in Ottawa County, east of Toledo, where local officials have voiced concerns similar to those in Lake County.