FirstEnergy announces four reactor closures, scheduled for 2020 and 2021
Photo showing Davis-Besse's cracked concrete containment Shield Building, as well as its cooling tower, with the waters of Lake Erie immediately to the north.On the 39th annual commemoration of the beginning of the Three Mile Unit 2 meltdown (March 28, 1979 to March 28, 2018), FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) issued a press release announcing its schedule for permanent shutdowns of four atomic reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
FENOC announced:
The plants scheduled for retirement are:
- Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station (908 MW) in Oak Harbor, Ohio, in 2020 [see photo, left]
- Beaver Valley Power Station (1,872 MW) in Shippingport, Pa.,
in 2021 - Perry Nuclear Power Plant (1,268 MW) in Perry, Ohio, in 2021
However, FENOC added:
In the interim, the plants will continue normal operations, as FES [FirstEnergy Solutions] seeks legislative policy solutions as an alternative to deactivation or sale. (emphasis added)
Thus, it seems clear that FirstEnergy has not given up on its efforts of many years, and counting, to secure massive bailouts, at public expense, to prop up its economically failed (and ever more risky, due to age-related degradation) atomic reactors. FirstEnergy has been very active, for many long years already, at both the State of Ohio and the federal level, in seeking such subsidies, at ratepayer and/or taxpayer expense. Fortunately, they have not succeeded -- not yet anyway.
Tellingly, FirstEnergy included the following nuclear-related subject matter in its "Forward-Looking Statements" legal fine print at the bottom of the press release:
...adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes with respect to our nuclear operations (including, but not limited to, the revocation or non-renewal of necessary licenses, approvals or operating permits by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or as a result of the incident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant); issues arising from the indications of cracking in the shield building at Davis-Besse; changing market conditions that could affect the measurement of certain liabilities and the value of assets held in our Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts, pension trusts and other trust funds, and cause us and/or our subsidiaries to make additional contributions sooner, or in amounts that are larger than currently anticipated...(emphasis added)
Beyond Nuclear helped lead the watch-dogging campaign on Davis-Besse's concrete containment Shield Building cracking. From 2011, when the cracking was first revealed, and continuing for several long years, Beyond Nuclear introduced multiple cracking-related contentions opposing Davis-Besse's 2017-2037 license extension. See the comprehensive backgrounder on the cracking prepared by Beyond Nuclear in August 2012, early in the course of the cracking related legal work.
Beyond Nuclear was allied with local grassroots groups, including the Green Party of Ohio, Don't Waste Michigan, and Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, in the legal intervention against Davis-Besse's license extension. Toledo attorney Terry Lodge served as legal counsel for Beyond Nuclear and the environmental coalition. (This also included a challenge against Davis-Besse's risky replacement steam generators, in which the Ohio Sierra Club Nuclear-Free Committee, and expert witness Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer at Fairewinds Associates, joined the coalition's legal opposition to Davis-Besse risks.)
However, the complicit and colluding Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and its kangaroo court Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, rubber-stamped the 20-year license extension in late 2015, regardless of the safety significance of the cracking.
Watchdogs must remain vigilant against FirstEnergy's still ongoing lobbying for massive bailouts, to prop up its four failing atomic reactors in OH and PA. The reactors should be permanently shutdown ASAP, given the ever increasing age-related degradation safety risks.
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Funk of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has followed up with two additional articles today (Thursday, March 29th), reporting on developments: "FirstEnergy Solutions will close its nuclear power plants, but is silent on bankruptcy restructuring"; and "FirstEnergy Solutions asks the DOE to help save its old power plants."
Note that FirstEnergy's appeal to U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry comes just two days after the Department of Energy's latest call for public subsidies for nuclear (and coal) plants, as reported by Law360.
WPXI reported on the announced closure of Beaver Valley nuclear power plant's two atomic reactors by 2021.
Crain's Cleveland Business has also reported on the FirstEnergy Nuclear closure announcement, as well as its intention to continue lobbying for bailouts.
So too has the Fremont News Messenger, WKYC, and WTVG/ABC13.
Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps discussed the looming FENOC reactor shutdown announcement on the weekly nuclear power and weapons update on Sputnik International's "Loud & Clear" radio show, hosted this week (Wed., March 28, 2018) by Nicole Roussell (filling in for Brian Becker) and John Kiriakou.
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Scott Stapf of the Hastings Group just tweeted a comment in response to reporting that FirstEnergy's lobbyists are wasting no time in using FirstEnergy's "threat" to close four reactors by 2021 to secure a massive "emergency" bailout from the U.S. Department of Energy:
https://twitter.com/stapf/status/979374277957996545
How dead is #nuclear in US? They can't figure out how to run a plant profitably. State lawmakers are leery to follow lead of IL & NY in shafting ratepayers for billions in bailouts. FERC nixed Perry handout bid. Now, they are asking to suspend laws of capitalism to stay open.
Scott Stapf added,
Jennifer A. DlouhyVerified account @jendlouhyhc
FirstEnergy just asked Energy @SecretaryPerry for "immediate intervention" to keep its power plants online, via an emergency order under Sec. 202 of the Federal Power Act.
10:06 AM - 29 Mar 2018
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Here is the press release put out by FirstEnergy explaining its demand to DOE for emergency relief (that is, massive public bailouts), under the Federal Power Act, to prop up its uneconomic nuclear power plants -- and other nuclear utilities' nuclear (and coal) power plants, throughout the huge PJM grid system, stretching from the Mid-Atlantic to the Midwest!
(As reported by John Funk in a March 31/April 1 article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
On Thursday, the company filed a 44-page formal appeal to the U.S. Department of Energy to declare an emergency, under extraordinary power reserved for use during cataclysmic threats to the national electric grid such as war...
PJM responded Friday in a letter directly to Perry, saying there is no imminent threat to the stability of the grid, and that it would do another analysis of the grid's ability to remain stable despite the closing of old coal and nuclear power plants. PJM also noted that it would use federally approved analytical methods to complete the assessment in 30 days...
Saturday's late night bankruptcy petition prompted an immediate response from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Chairman Asim Haque issued a statement just after midnight pointing out that the bankruptcy reorganization had been widely anticipated and that the development would not affect electric service.
"There is no reason for customers of FES - or anyone else in Ohio - to be concerned about whether or not they will have electricity. They will," he wrote.)
As Funk reported, such emergency declarations under the Federal Power Act are usually limited to war-time emergencies. In this case, the "emergency" doesn't really exist, and has entirely to do with FirstEnergy's own bad business decisions and incompetent corporate management, resulting in its inability to compete in deregulated (competitive) markets its own lobbyists demanded (and designed) two decades ago!
PJM's competitive market rules in fact favor the cheapest source of power needed at any given second to guarantee the stability of the thousands of miles of transmission lines under its control.
FirstEnergy wants PJM's market rules changed to reflect what it argues is the importance of its very large coal-fired and nuclear plants to the stability of the grid.
In other words, it wants PJM's competitive market to provide a way for its power plants to succeed against the newer, more efficient technologies offering power at lower prices.
That has galvanized consumer, business and environmental groups that see the company's problems as its own fault, beginning with its $4.7 billion purchase of Pennsylvania-based, coal-heavy Allegheny Energy in 2010. Though the the deal was a stock transaction, FirstEnergy also absorbed $3.8 billion of Allegheny's debt. FirstEnergy has since closed many of Allegheny's coal plants.)
FirstEnergy's non-coal and non-nuclear competition blasted the company for its "false narrative" and "crying wolf" regarding an emergency in grid reliability. The American Petroleum Institute (API), representing natural gas and oil interests, in a press release entitled "FirstEnergy should stop misleading the public on grid reliability," stated:
"FirstEnergy needs to stop misleading the public and government officials about the status of its power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania," said API Market Development Group Director Todd Snitchler. "FirstEnergy's latest attempt to spread a false narrative surrounding the reliability of the electric grid is nothing more than a ruse that will force Main Street consumers to pay higher prices.
"As FirstEnergy has said repeatedly, it plans to exit the merchant generation business and retire or deactivate some of its power plants. In fact, these announced retirements are not slated to occur for another 2-3 years. Further, its Davis-Besse nuclear plant in Ohio was just refueled.
"FirstEnergy's claim that the electric grid would be in immediate danger with these power plant retirements is simply untrue. According to PJM, we have more than enough electricity in the grid to handle these retirements thanks to additional natural gas plants in the region.
"For FirstEnergy to cry wolf on the issue of grid reliability is irresponsible and is the company's latest attempt to force consumers to pay for a bailout. PJM is responsible for the reliability of the grid and if there is an emergency, PJM already has the tools to respond."
Beyond Nuclear does not support the natural gas and oil industries. In fact, Beyond Nuclear has worked with environmental allies in places like Ohio and Michigan for several long years to resist the expansion of natural gas fracking, as well as Canadian tar sands crude oil pipelines. Fracking, for example, involves radioactive pollution, in addition to its global warming, water-fouling, and other forms of pollution. Beyond Nuclear has, for over a decade, worked hard to support IEER's carbon-free, nuclear-free campaign.
Another March 30 article (updated April 1) by Funk of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, entitled "FirstEnergy DOE Emergency Appeal Another Ruse for 'Bailouts' Say Opponents," quotes not only FirstEnergy's competitors, and industry-scale electricity consumers (which would, like household ratepayers and small businesses, pay higher prices under FirstEnergy's bailout schemes), but also environmental groups:
From Earthjustice, a Philadelphia law firm that has represented the Sierra Club in its opposition to FirstEnergy's earlier plans to raise customer rates in Ohio and direct the extra money to the power plants: "FirstEnergy wants to hold utility customers hostage and force them to subsidize its bad business decisions by propping up aging and inefficient coal and nuclear units," said attorney Kim Smaczniak. "This request by FirstEnergy is a desperate attempt to get special treatment from [DOE] Secretary [Rick] Perry, and seeks to end run FERC's unanimous rejection of almost the same bailout proposal [from coal companies] less than three months ago."
- From the Natural Resources Defense Council: "First Energy is desperate to pad its bottom line at the expense of its customers. The region is awash in cleaner and cheaper resources, and First Energy can't compete in the market," said attorney John Moore. "This move is stunning given that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and the state of Ohio have all rejected these bailouts."
- From the national offices of the Sierra Club: "After making foolish investments in expensive and dangerous coal and nuclear plants, FirstEnergy Solutions is again demanding that electricity customers bail them out through this outrageously illegal proposal," said Mary Anne Hitt, director of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. "Ratepayers and regulators have already rejected multiple attempts by the company to bail out these coal and nuclear plants that can no longer compete in the marketplace. If the Trump Administration bows to FirstEnergy and moves forward with this bailout attempt, Sierra Club fully intends to challenge and defeat the administration in court." (emphasis added)
- From the Environmental Defense Fund:
"FirstEnergy's DOE plea is a last-ditch, desperate attempt to bail out its uneconomic power plants. The company is using every trick in the book to get what it wants" wrote Dick Munson, director of the group's Midwest Clean Energy project. "Rather than continue to plea for subsidies, when will FirstEnergy ever accept responsibility for its own bad business decisions?"
Here is a link to another press statement issued by the Sierra Club. In 2013-2014, Beyond Nuclear teamed up with the Sierra Club (including its Ohio Chapter's Nuclear-Free Committee), as well as Don't Waste Michigan, and Citizens Environmental Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, to challenge FirstEnergy's risky replacement of steam generators at its Davis-Besse atomic reactor. Toledo attorney Terry Lodge served as the coalition's legal counsel; Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer at Fairewinds Associates, Inc., served as the coalition's expert witness. Despite the coalition's best efforts, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rubber-stamped the risky replacement of Davis-Besse's steam generators. The atomic reactor has operated with the prematurely degrading steam generators, ever since. A widespread enough, cascading failure of steam generator tubes can lead to a core meltdown. It was just such risks that led to the permanent shutdown of the San Onofre Units 2 & 3 atomic reactors in s. CA in 2013. Gundersen had served as expert witness for Friends of the Earth in that case, playing a critical role in the safety-related permanent shutdown.
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As reported by BloombergMarkets, on April 1, 2018, FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) have indeed filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As the article reports, the companies:
[L]isted $550 million in cash to continue operations and meet obligations to employees in a Chapter 11 filing in Federal Court in Akron, Ohio, according to a March 31 statement...
Here is that statement, issued just before midnight on March 31st.
FES and FENOC faced a $100 million debt payment due date on April 2nd, which they could not meet, precipitating the long-anticipated bankruptcy filing.
In fact, as reported by John Funk in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, FirstEnergy's debt amounts to a whopping $2.8 billion, all told.
As mentioned in FirstEnergy's statement, and in Bloomberg's article, in a bid to keep its three implicated nuclear power plants operating, FirstEnergy is still seeking public bailouts at the state and federal level; it is also seeking a buyer for its four atomic reactors (there are two units at Beaver Valley, PA; there is one unit each at Davis-Besse and Perry in n. OH on the Lake Erie shore).
In a second, separate statement -- issued even closer to midnight -- FirstEnergy Corporation made clear it was not a part of the bankruptcy filing. It separated out, and walled off, FES and FENOC many months ago, to protect its "Mother Ship" from the financial failures of its non-competitive generating facilities, located in competitive markets FirstEnergy itself demanded, designed, lobbied for, and brought into being two decades ago. FirstEnergy enjoyed huge subsidies, at public expense, at the time, for its "stranded assets" -- such as its nuclear power plants, to help "ease its transition" into competitive markets. All told nationwide, nuclear power utilities obtained some $125 billion (with a B!) in "stranded assets" public bailouts during this 1990s transition from regulated to de-regulated markets. Now nuclear utilities like FirstEnergy can't backpedal fast enough, and are again demanding massive public bailouts for the re-transition!