Moves to curb nuclear power political corruption in the Midwest are in motion. The outcomes are unclear so far.
In Illinois, dominant utility Commonwealth Edison, an Exelon subsidiary, has admitted to federal charges that it bribed important state legislators, including the Democratic speaker of the House, and agreed to a $200 million fine. The admission clouds the 2016 state law that provided a bailout for two of the company’s nuclear power plants, the single-unit Clinton (1062 MW) and two-unit Quad Cities (1880 MW).
In the aftermath of the bribery scandal, state legislation is pending to repeal the bailout law. The utility said it would close the two plants without the legislation.
Now the company is repeating that refrain, this time targeting the two-unit, 2300-MW Byron station and the two-unit 1800-MW Dresden plant. CEO Chris Crane said the company will shut down the uneconomic plants in 2021 and, “We will not run plants and lose free cash flow or earnings on assets that are not supporting themselves.” He said the company “will continue our dialog with policymakers on ways to prevent these closures.”
Inside Climate News commented, “Despite all the reasons to tell Exelon to take a hike, some consumer and environmental advocates say there is a strong case for keeping the plants open because they are an important source of carbon-free electricity. This ties into the larger, often acrimonious debate about the role of nuclear power in the transition away from fossil fuels.”
In Ohio, the Republican legislature has begun the steps to repeal the law, House Bill 6, which bails out two FirstEnergy nuclear plants, two coal-fired plants, and eviscerates that state’s energy efficiency programs. The revelation that the utility and coal company Murray Energy coordinated to pay massive bribes to former House Speaker Larry Householder for passage of the legislation last year, led to his ouster and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine supporting repeal of the Ohio law.
At the end of last month, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported, new House Speaker, Republican Bob Cupp created a “select committee” to review the situation, including “House Bill 746, a Republican-backed proposal that would repeal the bill, passed last year, and re-instate previous law.”
The Cleveland newspaper noted that “the issue is time sensitive.” Starting on Jan. 1, the law will provide more than $1 billion, or $150 million annually, to the 1256-MW Perry and 894-MW Davis-Besse nuclear plants, via new fees tacked onto Ohioans’ electricity bills. Both plants are technically owned by a FirstEnergy spinoff, Energy Harbor, as part of bankruptcy reorganization. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, has threatened to sue to prevent the subsidies from going into effect.”
Daniel Sawmiller, Ohio energy policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, “As we struggle our way through this health and economic crisis, our legislature is layering on a $1.5 billion bailout for one very powerful and potentially corrupt company, FirstEnergy. It’s simply unfair to have electricity customers in this state pay every month to bail out FirstEnergy while the rest of the state struggles to maintain and grow jobs.”
–Kennedy Maize