Exelon Nuclear Blackmailing Illinois

 Basically it is the “all the above” energy philosophy energy sources colluding and conspiring with the politicians to set the highest priced electricity as the floor price with the rest of the energy sources.

The utilities are smart enough to figure out the higher the priced consumer and commercial electricity, the bigger my cut. And they are big enough to take advantage of this philosophy.   

Exelon puts an opening price tag on nuclear rescue: $580 million

By Steve Daniels September 24, 2014

Exelon Corp. is urging state utility regulators to press for changes in power markets that would boost revenue at the company's Illinois nuclear power fleet by about $580 million.

At a Sept. 23 hearing before the Illinois Commerce Commission, Exelon Senior Vice President Kathleen Barron put a price tag on what the Chicago-based nuclear giant believes is necessary to keep at least most plants in Illinois open, the first public indication from the company of what it's asking for in dollars and cents.

Citing estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on how much more nuclear plants should be paid for their output in light of their carbon-free emissions, Ms. Barron told commissioners an increase of about $6 per megawatt-hour would improve the company's financial picture in Illinois.

There remain questions about ways the state could help Exelon generate more revenue in Illinois, where some of its plants are losing money. But no one disagrees on who would supply the money: ratepayers. A $6-per-megawatt-hour increase in power prices would raise the energy price currently charged by Commonwealth Edison Co. by eight percent. Downstate, where power prices are significantly lower than in the Chicago area, the percentage increase would be significantly more.

'ECONOMIC STRESS'

The General Assembly is expected next year to take up wide-ranging energy legislation aimed at complying with the EPA's proposed greenhouse gas rule, which requires power generators to reduce carbon emissions on a state-by-state basis. The proposed rule would require Illinois to cut carbon emissions by 33 percent from 2005 over the next 16 years.

In her testimony, Ms. Barron told the ICC it was “beyond dispute” that keeping all the nuclear plants open was crucial to complying with the EPA's rule.

“EPA's recommended $6-per-megawatt-hour payment would make a big difference for challenged plants in the U.S.,” Exelon said in a statement. “In Illinois, it would offset a good deal of the economic stress on these units, which together represent almost 30 million metric tons of avoided carbon emissions per year.”

But, pressed on the matter, Exelon wouldn't commit to keeping all its Illinois plants open even with that subsidy.

“While a $6-per-megawatt-hour payment or even less would be sufficient for some units, $6 may not be enough for others,” the company said. “Each of our 11 nuclear units in Illinois has a different cost structure and different requirements.”

Exelon has said that at least two of its six Illinois stations (five of which have two units and one of which has a single unit) are losing money now. Those are its downstate Clinton plant (the single-unit station) and its Quad Cities plant.

FAIR TO CUSTOMERS?

In the past, when the state Legislature has approved legislation to spur a cleaner power mix in Illinois, it has added protections for ratepayers that capped increases at about 2 percent. A 2 percent cap on a nuclear rescue payment would likely mean no more than $300 million in additional revenue for Exelon.

If lawmakers were to approve a $6-per-megawatt-hour payment for nukes, they would have to forgo the 2 percent rate-hike cap they've used in the past.

“It's a huge amount of money,” said David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, a Chicago consumer advocate. “If that's going to be their ask, they'll be getting all the profits without any of the risk. That would be an awfully hard hit to consumers.”

It also raises questions as to how much ratepayer money other energy interests will seek under the auspices of complying with the greenhouse gas rule. Representatives of the wind and solar power industries testified before the ICC on how expanding renewable sources in Illinois would be key to lowering carbon emissions.

The state's second-largest power generator, Houston-based Dynegy Inc., has said it may lobby lawmakers to shift downstate Illinois into the same regional power grid that includes northern Illinois — a move that would raise power prices downstate about 18 percent from where they are now. That would help Dynegy preserve the downstate coal-fired fleet it acquired late last year from St. Louis-based Ameren Corp.