Facing the potential shutdown of two of Exelon Corp. nuclear plants, the Democratic Gov. of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, and the Chicago-based utility holding company, which owns six nuclear plants in the state, on June 1 reached a deal with to keep the two unprofitable plants open. The deal came after Pritzker extended the session of the state legislature from May 31 to June 1 to keep negotiations going.
The deal has the support of Don Harmon, Democratic president of the state senate.
The Washington Examiner reported, “Survival of Illinois nuclear plants hang in the balance of Democrats haggle over aid.” The deal could also include the possible extension of life for a large coal fired plant in the state, the 1.6 GW Prairie State station, according to a tweet from a tweet from the environmental advocacy group Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition.
Braidwood is a two-unit Westinghouse pressurized water reactor station with a total generating capacity of over 3000 MW. Both units came into service in 1988. Dresden is an elderly General Electric two-unit boiling water station with a combined generating capacity of nearly 2,000-MW. They are on the site of one of the nation’s first nuclear plants, commissioned in 1960. The second and third units came into service in 1970 and 1971. Neither Dresden nor Braidwood has been successful in competing in capacity auctions in the PJM wholesale market for several years.
The progressive news site Grist, which has focused on the coal plant wrapped up in the package along with the renewables provisions that Pritzker and the Democratic majority negotiated, commented, “Now that the spring session deadline has passed, a super majority of votes is needed — 11 more votes in the House, and six more votes in the Senate, than was needed before the session deadline.”
Exelon has been embroiled in a bribery scandal involving charges that the company was bribing key Democratic legislative officials, including the long-time and very powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan. He was alleged to have traded no-show jobs for his aides and allies in return from some $150 million in legislative benefits to the Chicago-based utility company. Madigan was ousted in January.
–Kennedy Maize