The consequences of continued operation include saving 4,200 jobs and the annual generation of 22 billion kWhs of CO 2-free energy. The legislation provides Zero Emission Credits for the plants' CO 2-free electricity. The plans for closure were canceled, however, when the Illinois State Legislature passed and the Illinois Governor signed SB 2814, The Future Energy Jobs Bill. Exelon, the former owner and operator of the present reactor, announced plans to permanently close the power station in June 2017, due to the plants struggles to compete economically in wholesale markets, resulting in a loss of millions of dollars in recent years. The present reactor operating license was issued April 17, 1987, and will expire September 29, 2026. It won’t be easy politically, but Democrats have an opportunity to prove both of those points in Illinois.The station has a single generation II General Electric Boiling Water Reactor. And last month, it said that Democrats will use existing nuclear plants to address that challenge. The Democratic Party wants to lead on climate change. But what will happen if natural gas prices start climbing? Or if supplies get disrupted? That same day, natural gas-fired generation reached an all-time high of 316 gigawatts. On July 27, the US electric grid set a new record for the amount of natural gas that was burned to generate electricity: 47.2 billion cubic feet. But as more coal plants and nuclear plants are shuttered, more of the US electric grid is relying on natural gas. Yes, natural gas is cheap and abundant and it’s far cleaner than coal. If the California blackouts proved anything, it is that electric grids should not be too dependent on any one source of supply. Illinois should keep its nuclear plants operating so the domestic grid doesn’t become too dependent on natural gas. electric power plants set a daily record high of 47.2 billion cubic feet. The US electric grid is increasingly dependent on natural gas. That will mean Illinois’ greenhouse gas emissions will jump and the state’s climate goals will be much harder to achieve. If Byron and Dresden – as well as LaSalle and Braidwood - are shuttered, they, too, will largely be replaced by gas-fired plants. When nuclear plants in California, Vermont, and New York were closed, the bulk of their production was replaced by gas-fired generators. If the state’s reactors are shuttered, their output will not be replaced by renewables, it will be replaced by natural gas-fired power plants. But the bottom line is obvious: Illinois lawmakers should find a way to keep all of the state’s nuclear reactors operating. In short, like nearly everything involving electricity and electric grids, the rules and the politics are complicated. But as one news report put it, the bribery scandal involving ComEd and Madigan “has driven a wedge between the utility and state lawmakers.” Exelon has asked Illinois to set up another system that would allow its nuclear plants to get paid for the capacity value outside the PJM market. Nevertheless, Exelon said that Byron and Dresden “ face revenue shortfalls in the hundreds of millions of dollars.” In addition to the drop in wholesale electricity prices, nuclear operators like Exelon are getting hurt by the rules set by the grid operator, PJM, under its capacity market, which is a retainer to make sure enough generation capacity is available to assure grid reliability.
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