Will Exelon Shutter Quad Cities, Clinton Or Byron NPPs In The Land Of Lincoln? - Nuclear Power Industry News - Nuclear Power Industry News - Nuclear Street - Nuclear Power Plant Portal

 

Nuclear power provides Illinois with 48 percent of its electricity and the three at-risk plants provide the power for three million homes, the Daily-Journal reported Tuesday

But pricing support has deteriorated. Stoermer said prices at times have fallen into negative territory with profit margins in the red. State lawmakers, he said, should support a pricing model that recognizes the discrete benefits of nuclear power, which generates $8.9 billion in annual economic output in Illinois.

Nuclear power employs 5,900 people in the state in carbon emissions-free jobs. The Quad Cities power plant alone generates $1.4 billion in annual economic impact, employs 900 people and paid $7.4 million in property taxes this year, the newspaper said….

Energy Institute Senior Vice President of Policy Development Richard Myers said four primary factors were putting negative pressure on pricing. Demand is stagnant – and has been since 2008, he said. Grid congestion, which decreases distribution efficiencies, is significant. Energy policies are giving alternative power sources unfair advantages. And historically low prices for natural gas are undermining price stability.

The plants are stabilizing, clean and productive, but the public often fails to consider this when they use electricity, which seems effortless and omnipresent.

Closing a plant would be a rude awakening….

Exelon's decision on the fate of three plants is not expected until after June in 2015.

 

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