About 600 people traveled to Springfield, Ill., Tuesday to support continued operation of the Quad Cities Generating Station, as owner Exelon awaits legislation that could potentially save the nuclear plant.
Local TV station KWQC reported the show of support for the Cordova, Ill., facility, which along with another Illinois nuclear plant, the Clinton Power Station, could potentially close. Exelon in early May announced it would move forward with early retirement of both plants if adequate legislation is not passed during the state’s spring legislative session, which wraps up May 31. The company, citing economic hardship, has threatened closure for several years.
Exelon spokesman Neal Miller told RadWaste Monitor on Monday that his state’s initiative will allow the Illinois plants, which have lost an estimated $800 million in the past years, to remain open. Without passage of the Next Generation Energy Plan, Exelon is set to close Clinton in June 2017 and Quad Cities in June 2018.
Exelon says that the Next Generation Energy Plan, Senate Bill 1585, will allow the plants to remain in operation, saving 4,200 direct and secondary jobs and nearly $1.2 billion in economic activity, including customer savings on energy rates and carbon-free benefits. The legislation would implement a zero emission standard, recognizing nuclear power as a zero-carbon source.
Among other benefits Miller listed for the energy plan is the nearly doubling of energy efficiency programs, including $1 billion in funding for low-income assistance, as well as $140 million per year in new funding for solar development.
In an email, Miller declined to provide an exact amount that Exelon is seeking in order to keep the plants afloat, saying that “the exact benefit to Exelon is highly dependent on market conditions.”
Illinois’ energy plan is modeled after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard, which so far has not convinced Entergy to maintain operation at its James A. FitzPatrick, a facility set to shut down in January 2017, saving the company an estimated $275 million through 2020. The plan provides tax benefits for nuclear plants, mandating that 50 percent of all electricity consumed in New York result from clean and renewable energy sources by 2030.
