Leaders in Akron and Summit County have thrown their support behind an effort to save FirstEnergy Solutions' Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear plants.

Just as the state Legislature reportedly is considering some form of subsidy for the plants, paid for by some portion of Ohio's electricity users, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan, Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro and other local leaders wrote a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine and top lawmakers supporting such a measure.

The letter was addressed to DeWine, Senate leader Larry Obhof and House Speaker Larry Householder and signed by Horrigan and Shapiro, as well as by Greater Akron Chamber president and CEO Steve Millard and Tri-County Regional Labor Council executive secretary-treasurer David Prentice.

"We write today to implore you to work towards a legislative solution allowing Ohioans to continue to experience the myriad benefits provided by the state's two nuclear power plants. These nuclear plants —Davis-Besse and Perry — help drive job creation across the state, contribute to our state's clean-energy efforts and secure our power supply," the group wrote in the letter.

Republican legislators in Columbus reportedly are concerned about the job losses Ohio would incur if the plants are shuttered by 2021, as currently planned. The plants employ about 1,500 people directly, but many more work at FirstEnergy Solutions and at various supply and contracting firms, backers say. They are owned by Akron's FirstEnergy Solutions, a FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary that is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and runs independently.

The letter addressed both economic concerns and the positive climate impact of the nuclear plants' emissions, which don't put CO2 into the atmosphere.

"This issue is critically important to the city of Akron, Summit County and the state as a whole," Shapiro wrote in announcing the letter. "Losing these plants would cost over 4,000 jobs across the state. We were encouraged to see FirstEnergy Solutions is taking steps that would keep these jobs in our state. It is now time for the General Assembly and governor to act on this issue."

Those jobs, some of which are at FirstEnergy Solutions' Akron headquarters, are important to the city, as are environmental issues, which Horrigan highlighted.

"Together, Perry and Davis-Besse generate 90% of our state's zero-emissions electricity, with no sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions," Horrigan wrote in the same announcement. "Closing these plants will be the equivalent of adding nearly 2 million cars to our roads, and 9 million tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants to our air. This will be a major setback to important clean-energy initiatives."

Millard and Prentice both highlighted employment and economic issues in announcing their support.

Millard wrote in a news release that "closing Perry and Davis-Besse would reduce Ohio GDP by more than $510 million a year and cause cuts to budgets for schools, first responders and other services across the state. Certainly, cities closest to the facilities will be hit the hardest, but nearly all communities will be impacted as the state looks to offset the lost revenue. When you consider the companies doing business with the plants and their suppliers, the economic loss only multiplies," he added.

In the same release, Prentice promised that organized labor would work with legislators to save the plants and the union jobs that they support.

"Workers across Ohio have been strong partners in building and maintaining Ohio's nuclear power infrastructure," Prentice wrote. "We are committed to saving the jobs made possible by Perry and Davis-Besse and making sure electric rates do not increase as a result of these plants shutting down. We are ready to engage our legislative leaders — with our coalition partners — in pursuit of a solution."

Whether the group gets their wish will likely be determined by state lawmakers, who appear more willing to grant the plants some sort of subsidy than they were two years ago when they turned down a similar request — though it, too, had been supported by local officials.

Since then, however, the makeup of the legislature has changed and the state has a new governor, both of whom seem more willing to pass some sort of bailout package for the plants.

The main question some observers say they now have is whether a subsidy will be paid for by electricity users statewide, or only in FirstEnergy's traditional territory in northern Ohio. No legislation on the matter has been introduced, but FirstEnergy Solutions has said it would need some assurances the plants will stay open if they are to continue to make major investments in refueling the Perry plant for continued operation.