Exelon to close Quad Cities and Clinton Nuclear Plants
Exelon Generation recently announced that it will retire the Quad Cities and Clinton Nuclear Generation Stations by 2018 due to slow progress on Illinois energy legislation and a combined loss of $800 million since 2009.
The Quad Cities and Clinton nuclear plants are two of the top performing plants in Exelon’s portfolio. Due to increasing losses at the facilities, however, Exelon will retire the Clinton plant on June 1, 2017, and the Quad Cities plant on June 1, 2018.
Exelon notified grid operator PJM Interconnection of its decision on Thursday.
“We continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure the retirement of these plants is carried out responsibly, safely and with consideration to the employees and the communities in which the plants operate,” Exelon President and CEO Chris Crane said. “We are committed to being transparent at every step in the process, and that includes giving grid operators ample time to prepare for the loss of these units.”
An estimated 900 workers are employed at the Quad Cities plant, and approximately 700 workers are employed at Clinton, which operates in the MISO market. The plants support a combined 4,200 direct and indirect jobs and contribute approximately $1.2 billion to the local economies annually. The closure of the plants is expected to increase regional wholesale energy costs from $439 million to $645 million annually.
Exelon Generation has followed the Illinois procedural regulations regarding plant closure and intends to formally notify MISO of the Clinton plant retirement later this year.
