Energy company Exelon said this week it will close its Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station Unit 1 and its single-reactor Ginna Nuclear Power Plant if New York state officials don’t approve nuclear incentives under the Clean Energy Standard (CES) by September.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo in December directed the Public Service Department to create the CES, which includes operational mandates in meeting his goal of producing half of all electricity consumed in New York from renewable sources by 2030. The plan gives nuclear energy sources access to the same zero-emission credits available to solar and wind sources. Officials have proposed extending the deadline for public comment on the CES until July 11.
Exelon, while not opposed to the extension, said in a filing Monday to Public Service Commission Secretary Kathleen Burgess that the company will need financial certainty by September in deciding whether to continue operations at the two units.
“A decision to invest tens of millions of dollars in units that are rapidly losing money cannot be justified on the hope that the CES proceeding will ultimately result in contracts that will justify the investment,” Exelon wrote in its filing.
Public Service Commission spokesman Jon Sorensen said by email Friday that officials expected at the outset to complete the work this summer, and that has not changed.
“The Department fully understands the difficulties facing the Upstate nuclear fleet, which is why we have been working for the past six months to create a plan that will ensure the future viability of these emission-free resources and continue New York’s progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he wrote.
Exelon announced closure of two Illinois nuclear plants earlier this month after the state General Assembly failed to pass a nuclear energy incentive package, the Next Generation Energy Plan. The company claimed it needed assistance in maintaining the two facilities that have lost an estimated $800 million over the past seven years, while critics shamed the company for seeking an unnecessary bailout in the name of profit.
The Nine Mile Unit 1 is scheduled for a $55 million refueling in March 2017, and the company recently completed refueling Unit 2. Fuel prefabrication and fabrication take anywhere from six months to a year to complete, so Exelon said it will need to decide whether to refuel no later than September 2016. Exelon also must decide by Sept. 30 whether to file with the commission its intent to continue operation at Ginna.
“In order for (the company) to make the investment and commitment necessary to keep Nine Mile Unit 1 and Ginna in operation, it needs the certainty provided by a Commission Order approving the CES and a signed contract procuring zero emission credits from the Nuclear Generators,” the filing reads. “(The company) cannot simply roll the dice and make substantial investments on the hope that the program ultimately adopted by the Commission is sufficient to justify the substantial investments and commitments required to enable continued operation of CENG’s upstate nuclear plants.”
Exelon spokeswoman Jill Lyon said in an email statement Wednesday that the company continues to work with stakeholders on a CES “that properly values upstate nuclear units for their clean energy and reliability attributes.”
Despite Cuomo’s rollout of the CES, the plan failed to convince power provider Entergy to maintain operation of its James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Oswego County. Nine Mile Point is also located in Oswego County, while Ginna is located in Ontario, N.Y. Nuclear plants account for 30 percent of the state’s energy.
