Utility Exelon said Thursday it will close its Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants respectively in 2017 and 2018, citing uncertainty surrounding a controversial energy plan it pushed for in the Illinois General Assembly this cycle.
The state legislature, which wrapped up its spring legislative session on Tuesday, failed to send a budget to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner that night, with Democrats at odds with House Speaker Michael Madigan’s overall state budget plan. The Next Generation Energy Plan, which would provide billions in support for state nuclear power plants, is up for consideration and remains at the committee level.
Exelon, which has threatened closures of both Clinton and Quad Cities for years, again pointed to an estimated $800 million that the two plants lost over the past seven years. The utility also again cited the estimated 4,200 direct and secondary jobs and nearly $1.2 billion in annual economic activity the plants generate as reasons to approve the energy plan.
“This is an extremely difficult day for the 1,500 employees who operate these plants safely and reliably every day, and the communities that depend on them for support,” Exelon President and CEO Chris Crane said in a statement Thursday. “We have worked for several years to find a sustainable path forward in consultation with federal regulators, market operators, state policymakers, plant community leaders, labor and business leaders, as well as environmental groups and other stakeholders. Unfortunately, legislation was not passed, and now we are forced to retire the plants.”
The company said it expects to formalize closure plans with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 30 days, which will result in Exelon taking immediate one-time closure charges of $150 million to $200 million for 2016. The company also will endure about $2 billion in depreciation and amortization through the scheduled shutdown dates, according to Exelon.
State Attorney General Lisa Madigan, stepdaughter to the speaker, blasted the Next Generation Energy Plan last week as an unnecessary bailout for profitable companies, calling it an “outrageous” attempt to boost profits even further, resulting in billions of dollars for Exelon and its subsidiary ComEd.
Rauner in an interview with media Thursday lamented the loss of jobs at the two power plants, saying lawmakers need to strike a balance between protecting well-paying jobs in Illinois and looking out for taxpayers.
“This is a large corporation that’s asking for a bailout to keep some operations going,” the governor said. “This is not an easy solution. I’ve said let’s work this out together, and come up with a compromise because we want to keep these plants open. We also need to protect rate payers from a massive spike in rates. We’re trying to work this out.”
He claimed that supermajority Democrats have said both publicly and privately that they don’t want to initiate energy reforms. “They don’t want to make any tough decisions until after the election,” he said.
The energy plan would establish a zero-emission standard, allowing financial assistance to plants at the discretion of state regulators, with about $1 billion committed to low-income assistance. The plan would also reportedly double down on state energy efficiency programs, creating $4.1 billion in energy savings for Illinois, and $140 million for solar energy development, while implementing a zero-emission standard.
Exelon said it will continue to work with stakeholders on passage of the energy plan, which was modeled after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard, which provides tax benefits for nuclear plants, mandating that 50 percent of all electricity consumed in New York originate from clean and renewable energy sources by 2030.
“While these needed policy reforms may come too late to save some plants, Exelon is committed to working with policymakers and other stakeholders to advance an all-of-the-above plan that would promote zero-carbon energy, create and preserve clean-energy jobs, establish a more equitable utility rate structure and give customers more control over their bills,” Exelon said in its announcement.
