NEIS PRESS RELEASE -- EXELON BILL IS CORPORATE WELFARE BAILOUT, GROUP CONTENDS

For immediate release, Thursday, May 19, 2016                           

Contact: David Kraft, Nuclear Energy Information Service, (773)342-7650 (w); neis@neis.org

EXELON BILL IS CORPORATE WELFARE BAILOUT, GROUP CONTENDS

Bill designed to bailout failing nuclear plants, transfer wealth, kill renewables, group testifies

SPRINGFIELD— Nuclear Energy Information Service of Chicago testified today before the Illinois State Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee that the new Exelon legislation amounted to a “corporate welfare bailout” designed to kill renewable energy and “transfer wealth from Illinois ratepayers to Exelon shareholders.”

Speaking at a Subject Matter hearing, NEIS Director David Kraft urged legislators to reject the flawed Exelon legislation – Amendment 3 to SB.1585, the so-called “Next Generation Energy Plan” – and fix the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) as soon as possible, and before considering any Exelon reactor bailout schemes.

“Exelon’s obstructionism has done real harm to Illinois renewable energy,” Kraft notes.  “[Exelon] now suggests that it will continue to do that harm unless its failed and anachronistic business model is ‘rewarded’ – bailed out.  It is simply inappropriate and irresponsible – and dumb energy policy – to reward such self-fulfilling prophecy,” Kraft told the Committee.

The RPS program has been unable to access millions of dollars in collected money to build new renewable energy generating facilities in Illinois due to an unforeseen glitch in the original law.  Exelon lobbyists have helped stall that fix for the past 4 years, while at the same time creating pro-nuclear front groups to lobby the Illinois Legislators for a financial bailout of allegedly money-losing nuclear reactors in Illinois. 

The original amount Exelon suggested was $1.6 billion over five years, an amount which has been scaled back in successive versions of their hardship story, in part due to positive gains in the local energy markets.  While not stated directly in the current Exelon bill, the bailout ask is now estimated to be anywhere from $100 to $150 million per year for the money losing Clinton-1 and Quad Cities 1&2 reactors.  While pleading financial hardship at these reactors, Exelon’s Christopher Crane pledged to shareholders in Exelon’s 4Q report earlier this year that they would receive an annual 2.5% increase in dividends over the next three years.

“Some hardship,” observes Kraft.  “These reactors are Exelon’s private assets.  There is no rational justification for ratepayers – the public – to subsidize these private assets, and certainly not without getting some kind of equity for use of their money,” Kraft asserts.  “If Exelon keeps the assets, let their shareholders pay for their operation,” he said.

Exelon claims that their legislation would “level the playing field for all clean energy sources to compete…” and “…recognize the zero-carbon benefits of nuclear power.”

“Why single out the low-carbon benefits for reward?” Kraft asks.  “Should not RE/EE be rewarded for the facts that they not only are lower-carbon emitters than nuclear, but they eliminate the costly and risky societal burdens of radioactive waste production and disposal, and nuclear proliferation of materials, expertise, technology and ultimately nuclear weapons and terrorism.  Should not these positive societal benefits be compensated for additional reward?” Kraft points out.

Kraft also criticized the Exelon threat of job and economic loss stemming from their proposed closure of Clinton and Quad Cities, noting that renewable energy and energy efficiency, sectors which the Exelon nuclear bailout could severely damage and Exelon’s obstruction of the RPS fix already has, account for 12 times the number of direct jobs statewide as would be lost at the two reactors, and as much as 25 times the total number if including indirect jobs.  “If legislators are concerned about jobs across the State, they should focus on fixing the RPS,” Kraft maintained.  He also recommended establishing “just transition funds” for all reactor communities which will inevitably face reactor closures when the reactor licenses expire.  This suggestion has received positive response from some legislators.

--30--

David A. Kraft, Director

NEIS

3411 W. Diversey #16

Chicago, IL  60647

(773)342-7650

neis@neis.org

www.neis.org

SKYPE address:  davekhamburg

NEIS is a member of EarthShare Illinois

Update on May 20, 2016 by admin

As reported by Dan Petrella at the Southern Illinoisan, despite a three-hour long hearing, it is still unclear what the final outcome will be regarding Exelon's demand for the State Legislature to bailout it out, to the tune of many hundreds of millions of dollars, at ratepayer expense, in order to prop up its noncompetitive Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants.

Steve Daniels at Crain's Chicago Business reports that Exelon is demanding up to $290 million per year in surcharges on rateapayers' electric bills.

Although, as the Crain's article reports, Exelon's lobbyists have privately told lawmakers the average annual surcharge would be more like $170 million, these "nuclear taxes" would go on for several long years.

The Crain's article reports:

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, in an email, called the legislation “a bailout for an already profitable company. While it's packaged slightly differently, Exelon's proposal still demands consumers pay more only to boost the company's profits. The state is in its 11th month without a budget, and the legislature should focus on that.”

Exelon has threatened to close its Clinton atomic reactor by June 1, 2017, if it's billion dollar bailout bill is not enacted.

US Senator on high cost of nuclear: "I'm not anti-nuclear...I like Maseratis, I just can't afford them."

Thanks to Scott Stapf for the Tweet (see title line, above), pointing to an E&E article by Hannah Northey, entitled "NUCLEAR: Hearing on new reactors turns into colloquy on subsidies."

Of course, given the huge bailouts nuclear utilities are seeking, from IL to OH to NY, it's not just new reactors seeking subsidies, but old ones too! See entries about this elsewhere in this NUCLEAR COSTS website section.

NEI's Fertel: "Between 10 and 20 plants at risk" of near-term shutdown, absent massive ratepayer bailouts

As reported by E&E TV, the President and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, Marvin Fertel, has admitted that:

We think that, right now, if things don't change, we have somewhere between 10 and 20 plants at risk.

NEI's lobbyists, and those of the nuclear power industry writ large, are seeking massive state-level bailouts, at ratepayer expense, to prop up these failing reactors in such places as IL, NY, OH, PA, and elsewhere.

Fertel's admission came on the very same day as a hastily-arranged "save the nukes" emergency meeting was convened at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Oops! Exelon's compromise energy bill nearly zeroes out green-power funding

As reported by Steve Daniel's at Crain's Chicago Business, as Exelon Nuclear's well heeled lobbyists seek "the best democracy money can buy" (a phrase coined by investigative journalist and author Greg Pallast), they might want to hire a copy editor.

Exelon claims its omission of $133 million per year in renewable energy and efficiency funding in a major piece of legislation it is pushing in Illinois was a mere "clerical error." Exelon had just days earlier touted the $140 million per year in funding for genuinely clean energy as a major breakthrough it had reached with environmental groups and renewable energy businesses. But the final draft bill included only $7 million per year.

As reported in the article, critics aren't buying Exelon's "clerical error" mea culpa:

"This doesn't give us confidence that Exelon has reversed its historic opposition to the renewable portfolio standard," said Sarah Wochos, co-legislative director at the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center. "In a carefully crafted bill, it's hard to believe that this latest attempt to eviscerate renewable funding was a two-page 'drafting error.' "

Exelon's "clerical error" comes after years of its lobbyists helping stymie the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard, refusing to allow a technical flaw to be fixed, effectively sabotaging renewable energy development in the state.

The "error" also comes after the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) expelled Exelon from its membership, after the company simultaneously lobbied at the federal level to terminate the Wind Power Production Tax Credit, while simultaneously taking advantage of it, itself.

And, as explained by Nuclear Energy Information Service of Chicago's (NEIS, Illinois' nuclear power watchdog for 35 years) Executive Director, David Kraft, in a May 9th action alert:

After a lull in pseudo-negotiations with Illinois environmental groups, Exelon dropped a new piece of nuclear bailout legislation on the legislature on May 4^th.  Titled the “Next Generation Energy Plan,” it is SB.1585.  Introduced BY Exelon while they were in allegedly “good-faith” negotiations with members of the Clean Jobs Coalition (CJC), the bill was introduced without warning.  Exelon claims it to be, “a result of discussions between Exelon Generation, ComEd, the Clean Jobs Coalition, and other key stakeholders,” and “…reflects the best of all three bills introduced by Exelon Generation, ComEd, and the Clean Jobs Coalition in 2015….”  (Source:  “Nuclear Power Matters” e-mail blast to Exelon supporters.).  So much for “good faith negotiations.”  To be clear: the Clean Jobs Coalition and enviro groups did NOT endorse, nor collaborate in the creation of the Exelon bailout bill.

To its credit, the State of Illinois Legislature has, thus far, proven itself to NOT be "the best democracy money can buy." Exelon's lobbyists failed a year ago to force through their nuclear power bailout scheme. Exelon has till May 31, 2016 to force its supposedly now corrected legislation into law. It has threatened to close three reactors at two plants, in the next two years, if it doesn't get its way.

If you are an Illinois resident, please contact Governor Rauner, State House Speaker Madigan, and State Senate President John Cullerton. See NEIS's action alert for direct contact info., as well as suggested talking points. If you are not an Illinois resident, but have friends, family, or colleagues who are, please urge them to take action! Grassroots citizen action could make all the difference -- indeed, it is the only thing that ever does!

Given the safety benefit of closing such age-degraded reactors, as well as stopping the generation of any more high-level radioactive waste for which there is no solution, these reactor closures would be a good thing. A just transition for the workforce, including into a growing Illinois renewable and efficiency sector, would set the state on the road to a clean energy future in a big way, while saving ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars per year in this latest round of attempted nuclear power mega-subsidies, at public expense.

Update on May 12, 2016 by admin

Capitolfax.com has posted the following response to this news:

Who ya gonna believe? Exelon or your lyin’ eyes

Thursday, May 12, 2016

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Exelon was caught this week with their hand in the cookie jar.

Exelon, the only company ever kicked out of the American Wind Energy Association and the company single-handedly preventing a fix to Illinois’ broken RPS claims the near zeroing-out RPS funding in their multi-billion dollar bailout bill was a two-page “drafting error.”

 Crain’s exposed this latest outrage: Oops! Exelon’s compromise energy bill nearly zeroes out green-power funding.

 Other lowlights from the Exelon bailout bill? 

•  Permanent Nuclear Subsidy – Continues for the “useful life of the plant.”
•  Subsidy in Advance – Exelon gets their subsidy a year in advance by projecting revenues and costs. 
•  Windfall Profits – if energy prices go up, Exelon keeps the windfall profits.
•  ComEd Gets Back in the Generation Biz – breaks 1997 deregulation agreement preventing ComEd from  owning generation.
•  Demand Charge Rate Hike – First in nation “demand charge” will raise rates for nearly ½ of ComEd customers.
•  Energy Efficiency – ComEd to earn first-ever guaranteed profits on efficiency programs.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. 
JUST SAY NO TO THE EXELON BAILOUT.

 

 BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses.  Visit www.noexelonbailout.com.

 

- Posted by Advertising Department

DOE Summit Aims to Preserve At-Risk US Reactors

As announced by the U.S. Department of Energy:

Three panels to discuss policy solutions for federal, state leaders

• Industry represented by NEI’s Fertel, PSEG’s Levis, Entergy’s Mohl, Exelon’s Dominguez
• DOE report will propose ways to retain zero-carbon nuclear

May 12, 2016—The U.S. Department of Energy next week will sponsor a summit of key decision-makers to highlight the need to keep the nation’s nuclear power plants operational.

Set for May 19 in the Hart Senate Office Building, the afternoon-long meeting of industry experts, legislators, administration officials and other stakeholders will discuss the issues facing at-risk nuclear power plants and the unintended consequences that arise from early plant retirements. The main objective of the summit is to identify near-term policy solutions that could address these concerns at the federal and state level.

The summit also will address technical options utilities are implementing to enhance operating nuclear plants’ economic competitiveness as part of the Delivering the Nuclear Promise initiative.

“There is an urgent need to develop policies that will prevent additional, premature nuclear power plant closures,” NEI Senior Director of Business Policy Matt Crozat says. “Preserving existing nuclear power plants is imperative to any credible plan to reduce carbon emissions and necessary to preserve jobs in their host communities.”

This is the second summit held by the Obama administration to highlight the vital role that nuclear energy needs to play in any credible effort to reduce carbon emissions from the power sector and to assure a reliable supply of zero-emission electricity. While aNovember 2015 White House summit focused on advanced nuclear technologies for the future, this summit will concentrate on existing U.S. reactors.

The summit comes on the heels of a May 6 announcement by Exelon that it will move forward with the early retirements of its Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants in Illinois if the state does not pass adequate legislation recognizing those facilities’ emissions-free value. Meanwhile in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has asked the state’s Public Service Commission to develop a Clean Energy Standard that could keep some of the state’s nuclear plants open with “zero-emission credits” to help the state meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Since 2012, eight U.S. reactors have closed, or announced their intent to close, and that list could expand. If these plants were to continue operation they would avoid between 35 million and 50 million tons of carbon emissions annually, producing as much clean electricity as all of the renewables deployed by the power sector over the past three years, Crozat notes.

“When existing nuclear power plants shut down, carbon reduction goals, electric system reliability and local jobs all suffer—sometimes dramatically,” Crozat says. “Policymakers and industry employees at all levels must work together decisively and promptly to preserve these important parts of America’s electricity infrastructure.”

The May 19 summit will consist of three panels that will identify actions that various stakeholders have taken and can take to improve the economics of existing nuclear power plants. DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz will deliver the keynote address. Speakers from industry will include NEI President and Chief Executive Officer Marvin Fertel, PSEG Power President and CEO William Levis, Entergy Wholesale Commodities President Bill Mohl and Joe Dominguez, Exelon Corp.’s executive vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs and public policy. Other speakers include Sens. Michael Crapo (R-Idaho) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.).

More information on the summit and a webcast link is available on DOE’s website.