A group of utilities on Tuesday sued the state of Illinois, arguing that a recently passed package of nuclear subsidies improperly intrudes on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority over the wholesale electric market.
Led by the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. It seeks to overturn the Future Energy Jobs Bill, a piece of legislation that staved off planned closures at Exelon’s Clinton Power Station and the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station.
Exelon lobbied for a subsidy program for several years, claiming the facilities had lost about $800 million in the previous six years. Starting June 1, the plants are expected to start earning up to $235 million per year total in annual subsidies for a decade.
The lawsuit argues that FERC has determined that competitive market forces best set wholesale energy prices in Illinois and that the subsidy program “invades FERC’s exclusive regulatory field by directly altering the revenue to be paid to the nuclear generators.”
“Bailing out uneconomic power plants is a bad deal for Illinois ratepayers, who will see their electric bills go up across the State,” attorney Jonathan Schiller, who is representing EPSA, said in a statement.
The Illinois Power Agency and the Illinois Commerce Commission are listed as defendants in the lawsuit. EPSA also sued last summer to undo similar legislation adopted in New York state, which also aims to save struggling upstate nuclear plants.
