Exelon Announces Intention to Retire Dresden Nuclear Plant in 2021
In an August 27, 2020 press release, Exelon Generation announced they plan to retire the Dresden and Byron Nuclear Plants in 2021.
The Dresden Nuclear Plant is located in Grundy County at the confluence of the Kankakee and Des Plaines Rivers.
Press release from Exelon:
"CHICAGO — Exelon Generation announced today that it intends to retire its Byron Generating Station and Dresden Generating Station in fall 2021, resulting in the loss of four nuclear generation units that together supply clean, zero-emissions energy to more than four million homes and businesses in northern Illinois. Byron, located just outside Byron, Ill., will close in September 2021, and Dresden, located in Morris, Ill., will close in November 2021.
Dresden is licensed to operate for another decade and Byron for another 20 years. Together, they employ more than 1,500 full-time employees and 2,000 supplemental workers during refueling outages, most from local union halls. The plants pay nearly $63 million in taxes annually to support local schools, fire, police and other services. The two plants supply 30 percent of Illinois’ carbon-free energy and are essential to meeting the state’s goal to achieve 100 percent clean energy.
“Although we know in our heads that shutting down the uneconomic Illinois plants is necessary to preserve even more jobs elsewhere, our hearts ache today for the thousands of talented women and men that have served Illinois families for more than a generation and will lose their jobs because of poorly conceived energy policies,” said Christopher Crane, president and CEO of Exelon. “But we are only about a year away from shutdown and we need to give our people, the host communities, and regulators time to prepare.”
“We recognize this comes as many of our communities are still recovering from the economic and public health impacts of the pandemic, and we will continue our dialogue with policymakers on ways to prevent these closures,” said Crane. “To that end, we have opened our books to policymakers and will continue to do so for any lawmaker who wishes to judge the plants’ profitability.”
“We agree with Governor Pritzker that policy reform is urgently needed to address the climate crisis and advance Illinois’ clean energy economy, and we support the objectives of the Governor’s recent energy principles,” added Crane. “That’s separate from today’s announcement to retire these two zero-carbon nuclear plants, which was not a decision made lightly and is one that has been in the works for some time.”
Despite being among the most efficient and reliable units in the nation’s nuclear fleet, Dresden and Byron face revenue shortfalls in the hundreds of millions of dollars because of declining energy prices and market rules that allow fossil fuel plants to underbid clean resources in the PJM capacity auction, even though there is broad public support for sustaining and expanding clean energy resources to address the climate crisis. The plants’ economic challenges are further exacerbated by a recent FERC ruling that undermines longstanding state clean energy programs and gives an additional competitive advantage to polluting energy sources in the auction. As a result of these market rules, Exelon Generation’s LaSalle and Braidwood nuclear stations in Illinois, each of which house two nuclear units and together employ more than 1,500 skilled workers, are also at high risk for premature closure.
Studies have shown that when nuclear plants close, plants that burn fossil fuels operate much more often, increasing harmful carbon and air pollution, especially in disadvantaged communities. In January 2019, Illinois committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the targets set in the Paris climate agreement. While the state is currently at roughly 85 percent progress towards the 2025 goal, if the four economically challenged nuclear plants (Dresden, Byron, Braidwood and LaSalle) prematurely retire, Illinois will drop to only 20 percent of the way toward the goal. Electric sector emissions in Illinois will increase by 70 percent.
Despite these consequences, Exelon Generation must act now to prevent further shortfalls and give its employees, contractors and community partners time to prepare for the loss of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in taxes, donations and local purchasing. The notification also is necessary to give PJM enough time to conduct an analysis confirming that retiring Byron and Dresden will not cause a shortage of generating capacity in northern Illinois during times of peak demand.
In the days and weeks ahead, Exelon Generation will file a deactivation notice with PJM and inform key stakeholders and regulatory agencies of the retirements. In addition, the company will:
Make official shutdown notifications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 30 days;
Terminate capital investment projects required for long term operation of Dresden and Byron; and
Scale back the refueling outages scheduled for this fall at Dresden and Byron. The move will result in spending reductions of $50 million and the elimination of up to 1,400 of the more than 2,000 mostly union jobs typically associated with the two refueling outages.
While retirement preparations are underway, employees will continue to operate the plants at world-class levels of safety and operational excellence until they are decommissioned. Exelon Generation will work to place affected plant employees at other Exelon facilities or help them transition to positions outside the company, wherever possible. "
Reaction from elected officials:
State Senator Patrick Joyce:
"DRESDEN – State Senator Patrick Joyce (D-Essex) criticized the Exelon Corporation’s latest decision to retire Dresden Generating Station in fall 2021, employing 825 Grundy and Will County residents.
“Closing the plant during this economic hardship will have a long-lasting negative impact on the region,” Joyce said. “I am enraged that Exelon would choose to cut jobs and threaten our local economy at a time when hardworking men and women across the region are already struggling from this awful pandemic.”
Dresden Generating Station’s two nuclear reactors generate more than 1,800 megawatts of zero-emissions energy: enough carbon-free electricity to power more than 2 million homes. The plant was set to operate another decade.
Exelon also announced they would be closing the Byron Plant. Both plants combined supply 30 percent of Illinois’ carbon-free energy and help the state to meet its goal to achieve 100 percent clean energy.
Dresden provides hundreds of well-paying jobs and millions of dollars in local economic support, including about $24.8 million in taxes annually for schools, roads and other public services.
“I will continue to work with the bipartisan Senate’s Energy and Public Utilities Committee to institute policies that improve the lives of the people of the 40th State Senate District,” Joyce said."
State Senator Sue Rezin:
"On August 27, the Exelon Corporation announced its intentions to close its Dresden Generating Station. State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) issued the following statement in response:
"If our goal is to reduce our carbon footprint, nuclear generation plays an integral role in Illinois’ energy portfolio. As the Minority Spokesperson on the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee and the State Senator who represents the district where the Dresden Generating Station is located, the announced nuclear plant closure is a devastating economic blow to our region and will impede Illinois’ ability to achieve our clean energy goals.
"Dresden plays a vital role in our region's economy, providing more than 800 well-paying jobs and more than $24 million in property taxes annually. We must do everything we can to ensure that this facility continues to operate to preserve jobs for the hundreds of people employed by this facility and the many local businesses they support in their communities.""
State Representative David Welter:
"State Representative David Allen Welter, R-Morris, issued the following statement today in response to Exelon’s announcement that the company plans to retire Dresden Station by November 2021:
“I have been in regular communication with Exelon and other state and local leaders in an effort to save Dresden Station since February 2019 when Exelon publicly stated they were considering closing the plant in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. In the intervening 18 months I have made every effort to support the 804 men and women who work at Dresden and the 865 indirect jobs they support. To say that today’s announcement by Exelon is a major disappointment is an understatement. Disappointment does not even begin to scratch the surface of my frustration.
Less than four years ago, the state approved a multi-billion dollar package for Exelon to keep their nuclear power plants in the Quad Cities and Clinton open. I supported that package with the understanding that both Exelon and my colleagues in the Illinois General Assembly shared my commitment to protect the nuclear jobs here in our community. Dresden Station is an integral component of Illinois’ energy infrastructure and the jobs they provide are critical to local families. Dresden Station’s total contribution to the Grundy County economy is estimated to be over $357 million; which represents 11.5% of the total GDP of the County. This tax base provides critical support for our school districts, higher education and local government services.”
Exelon’s plan to retire Dresden Station is a direct result of Governor Pritzker and Speaker Madigan’s failure to bring comprehensive energy legislation up for a vote at any point during the last two years. As the Republican Spokesperson on the Energy and Environment Committee, I have been calling for bipartisan negotiations to pass a Future Energy Jobs Act that would protect our local nuclear jobs. The fact is, the Governor and his allies in the General Assembly have not made energy a priority. It is not too late. I will continue to work every day to pressure the Governor and my fellow state legislators to keep the Dresden Station and nuclear plants viable. At the same time, I will work actively with our local coalition to mitigate the negative impacts to our community should Dresden Station ultimately close.”
Representative Welter serves the 75th District, which includes portions of Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle and Will Counties."
The Dresden Nuclear Plant is located in Grundy County at the confluence of the Kankakee and Des Plaines Rivers.
Press release from Exelon:
"CHICAGO — Exelon Generation announced today that it intends to retire its Byron Generating Station and Dresden Generating Station in fall 2021, resulting in the loss of four nuclear generation units that together supply clean, zero-emissions energy to more than four million homes and businesses in northern Illinois. Byron, located just outside Byron, Ill., will close in September 2021, and Dresden, located in Morris, Ill., will close in November 2021.
Dresden is licensed to operate for another decade and Byron for another 20 years. Together, they employ more than 1,500 full-time employees and 2,000 supplemental workers during refueling outages, most from local union halls. The plants pay nearly $63 million in taxes annually to support local schools, fire, police and other services. The two plants supply 30 percent of Illinois’ carbon-free energy and are essential to meeting the state’s goal to achieve 100 percent clean energy.
“Although we know in our heads that shutting down the uneconomic Illinois plants is necessary to preserve even more jobs elsewhere, our hearts ache today for the thousands of talented women and men that have served Illinois families for more than a generation and will lose their jobs because of poorly conceived energy policies,” said Christopher Crane, president and CEO of Exelon. “But we are only about a year away from shutdown and we need to give our people, the host communities, and regulators time to prepare.”
“We recognize this comes as many of our communities are still recovering from the economic and public health impacts of the pandemic, and we will continue our dialogue with policymakers on ways to prevent these closures,” said Crane. “To that end, we have opened our books to policymakers and will continue to do so for any lawmaker who wishes to judge the plants’ profitability.”
“We agree with Governor Pritzker that policy reform is urgently needed to address the climate crisis and advance Illinois’ clean energy economy, and we support the objectives of the Governor’s recent energy principles,” added Crane. “That’s separate from today’s announcement to retire these two zero-carbon nuclear plants, which was not a decision made lightly and is one that has been in the works for some time.”
Despite being among the most efficient and reliable units in the nation’s nuclear fleet, Dresden and Byron face revenue shortfalls in the hundreds of millions of dollars because of declining energy prices and market rules that allow fossil fuel plants to underbid clean resources in the PJM capacity auction, even though there is broad public support for sustaining and expanding clean energy resources to address the climate crisis. The plants’ economic challenges are further exacerbated by a recent FERC ruling that undermines longstanding state clean energy programs and gives an additional competitive advantage to polluting energy sources in the auction. As a result of these market rules, Exelon Generation’s LaSalle and Braidwood nuclear stations in Illinois, each of which house two nuclear units and together employ more than 1,500 skilled workers, are also at high risk for premature closure.
Studies have shown that when nuclear plants close, plants that burn fossil fuels operate much more often, increasing harmful carbon and air pollution, especially in disadvantaged communities. In January 2019, Illinois committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the targets set in the Paris climate agreement. While the state is currently at roughly 85 percent progress towards the 2025 goal, if the four economically challenged nuclear plants (Dresden, Byron, Braidwood and LaSalle) prematurely retire, Illinois will drop to only 20 percent of the way toward the goal. Electric sector emissions in Illinois will increase by 70 percent.
Despite these consequences, Exelon Generation must act now to prevent further shortfalls and give its employees, contractors and community partners time to prepare for the loss of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in taxes, donations and local purchasing. The notification also is necessary to give PJM enough time to conduct an analysis confirming that retiring Byron and Dresden will not cause a shortage of generating capacity in northern Illinois during times of peak demand.
In the days and weeks ahead, Exelon Generation will file a deactivation notice with PJM and inform key stakeholders and regulatory agencies of the retirements. In addition, the company will:
Make official shutdown notifications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 30 days;
Terminate capital investment projects required for long term operation of Dresden and Byron; and
Scale back the refueling outages scheduled for this fall at Dresden and Byron. The move will result in spending reductions of $50 million and the elimination of up to 1,400 of the more than 2,000 mostly union jobs typically associated with the two refueling outages.
While retirement preparations are underway, employees will continue to operate the plants at world-class levels of safety and operational excellence until they are decommissioned. Exelon Generation will work to place affected plant employees at other Exelon facilities or help them transition to positions outside the company, wherever possible. "
Reaction from elected officials:
State Senator Patrick Joyce:
"DRESDEN – State Senator Patrick Joyce (D-Essex) criticized the Exelon Corporation’s latest decision to retire Dresden Generating Station in fall 2021, employing 825 Grundy and Will County residents.
“Closing the plant during this economic hardship will have a long-lasting negative impact on the region,” Joyce said. “I am enraged that Exelon would choose to cut jobs and threaten our local economy at a time when hardworking men and women across the region are already struggling from this awful pandemic.”
Dresden Generating Station’s two nuclear reactors generate more than 1,800 megawatts of zero-emissions energy: enough carbon-free electricity to power more than 2 million homes. The plant was set to operate another decade.
Exelon also announced they would be closing the Byron Plant. Both plants combined supply 30 percent of Illinois’ carbon-free energy and help the state to meet its goal to achieve 100 percent clean energy.
Dresden provides hundreds of well-paying jobs and millions of dollars in local economic support, including about $24.8 million in taxes annually for schools, roads and other public services.
“I will continue to work with the bipartisan Senate’s Energy and Public Utilities Committee to institute policies that improve the lives of the people of the 40th State Senate District,” Joyce said."
State Senator Sue Rezin:
"On August 27, the Exelon Corporation announced its intentions to close its Dresden Generating Station. State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) issued the following statement in response:
"If our goal is to reduce our carbon footprint, nuclear generation plays an integral role in Illinois’ energy portfolio. As the Minority Spokesperson on the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee and the State Senator who represents the district where the Dresden Generating Station is located, the announced nuclear plant closure is a devastating economic blow to our region and will impede Illinois’ ability to achieve our clean energy goals.
"Dresden plays a vital role in our region's economy, providing more than 800 well-paying jobs and more than $24 million in property taxes annually. We must do everything we can to ensure that this facility continues to operate to preserve jobs for the hundreds of people employed by this facility and the many local businesses they support in their communities.""
State Representative David Welter:
"State Representative David Allen Welter, R-Morris, issued the following statement today in response to Exelon’s announcement that the company plans to retire Dresden Station by November 2021:
“I have been in regular communication with Exelon and other state and local leaders in an effort to save Dresden Station since February 2019 when Exelon publicly stated they were considering closing the plant in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. In the intervening 18 months I have made every effort to support the 804 men and women who work at Dresden and the 865 indirect jobs they support. To say that today’s announcement by Exelon is a major disappointment is an understatement. Disappointment does not even begin to scratch the surface of my frustration.
Less than four years ago, the state approved a multi-billion dollar package for Exelon to keep their nuclear power plants in the Quad Cities and Clinton open. I supported that package with the understanding that both Exelon and my colleagues in the Illinois General Assembly shared my commitment to protect the nuclear jobs here in our community. Dresden Station is an integral component of Illinois’ energy infrastructure and the jobs they provide are critical to local families. Dresden Station’s total contribution to the Grundy County economy is estimated to be over $357 million; which represents 11.5% of the total GDP of the County. This tax base provides critical support for our school districts, higher education and local government services.”
Exelon’s plan to retire Dresden Station is a direct result of Governor Pritzker and Speaker Madigan’s failure to bring comprehensive energy legislation up for a vote at any point during the last two years. As the Republican Spokesperson on the Energy and Environment Committee, I have been calling for bipartisan negotiations to pass a Future Energy Jobs Act that would protect our local nuclear jobs. The fact is, the Governor and his allies in the General Assembly have not made energy a priority. It is not too late. I will continue to work every day to pressure the Governor and my fellow state legislators to keep the Dresden Station and nuclear plants viable. At the same time, I will work actively with our local coalition to mitigate the negative impacts to our community should Dresden Station ultimately close.”
Representative Welter serves the 75th District, which includes portions of Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle and Will Counties."
State Senator Michael Hastings:
"FRANKFORT– In response to Exelon’s decision to close two nuclear power plants, State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Frankfort), who chairs the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee, released the following statement:
“It’s truly unfortunate that Exelon has announced two plant closures during the middle of a pandemic. The negative economic impact of these closures cannot be understated. The Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee has been committed to working on legislation and consumer assistance since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and we remain committed to working with the men and women of organized labor and all stakeholders to find solutions to secure the future of clean energy in Illinois.”"
Congressman Adam Kinzinger:
"This right here is what happens when Illinois corruption is allowed to run wild.
This morning's announcement that the Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants will be closed is absolutely devastating to our communities, and yet another casualty of Mike Madigan's ComEd bribery scandal. When an industry is told it has to pay-up to exist, the corrupt win and the rest of us lose. It didn't even end up being Pay-to-Play, this was Pay-to-Die.
I have fought tirelessly for many years at the federal level to save and preserve our nuclear fleet, which offers affordable, safe, and clean energy and thousands of fantastic jobs here at home. But at the same time, on the state level, Mike Madigan's Machine cared more about draining the industry through bribes than saving these anchors of our communities -- not to mention their goal of a zero carbon future is impossible without nuclear energy.
This is an absolute disgrace, and my first step will be demanding that the $200 million in fines collected by the DOJ from the scandal be directed to the communities and families who are the casualties of this disgusting corruption. After that, it's time, once and for all, to take out Madigan and the Cronies who screwed us while enriching themselves."
