This paper proposes a novel damping controller for Subsynchronous Resonance (SSR) mitigation using existing 11 kV Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) interfaced auxiliary power plant loads. The input of the proposed Auxiliary Damping Controller (ADC) is the turbine output power (Pt). This is a standard signal that is monitored in power plant control rooms and is available locally without the need for additional measurement and/or communication infrastructure. The ADC adds an auxiliary speed signal to the existing speed reference in the closed-loop motor drive control in response to any torsional range oscillations seen in Pt, via a feedback compensator. The ADC extracts damping by exploiting SSR Load Interactions (SSR-LI) and is tuned using a residue based pole placement technique. The ADC performance is evaluated for both Torsional Interaction (TI) and Torque Amplification (TA) types of SSR in the IEEE First Benchmark (FBM) and IEEE 68 bus networks. The results show that the ADC is effective in providing positive damping to mitigate unstable SSR oscillations under a range of operating conditions. The proposed solution is a simple yet effective means of providing local control of SSR with minimal additional cost.