Exelon’s Q-C plant fails to clear energy auction
Exelon Corp. announced today that three of its nuclear plants, including the Quad-Cities Generating Station, did not clear an energy auction for the 2018-2019 planning year.
In a news release, the company said Oyster Creek and Three Mile Island nuclear power plants also did not clear the capacity auction with PJM — which administers the wholesale power market for the upper United States.
What this morning’s announcement means for the plant’s future was not immediately clear.
A media briefing is scheduled for later today.
Oyster Creek is located in Ocean County near the New Jersey Shore. Three Mile Island is in central Pennsylvania, about 10 miles south of Harrisburg.
Held annually by grid operator PJM, the auction ensures enough power generation resources are available to meet demand in its region covering all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia. This was the first auction to be held under new “capacity performance” reforms designed to spur investment in power plants that will improve their performance and strengthen electric grid reliability, Exelon said.
The nuclear plants that did not clear in the auction will not receive capacity revenue from this auction. The Quad-Cities Generating Station also did not clear the auction in 2014 for the 2017-2018 generating year.
Exelon, which has said its Cordova, Ill., plant is one of three that it might be forced to close prematurely, said capacity revenue in a single year is an important consideration in a plant’s long-term viability, but just one of several factors it will use to decide the plants’ future operations.
Exelon officials have been warning that the Quad-City plant and two others in Illinois — Byron and Clinton — could face possible early closure because they are not competitive. The plants have been “economically challenged” because other energy producers, such as wind energy, are collecting billions in state and federal subsidies.
