Nuclear Costs
Estimates for new reactor construction costs continue to sky-rocket. Conservative estimates range between $6 and $12 billion per reactor but Standard & Poor's predicts a continued rise. The nuclear power industry is lobbying for heavy federal subsidization including unlimited loan guarantees but the Congressional Budget Office predicts the risk of default will be well over 50 percent, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. Beyond Nuclear opposes taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies for the nuclear energy industry.
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February 23, 2018FirstEnergy Solutions failure appears inevitable says FE CEO
As reported by John Funk in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The article reports:
Moody's has lowered the subsidiary's rating from below investment grade to likely to default.
At that point of a Chapter 11 filing, the fate of the company's power plants, including Perry nuclear plant in Lake County east of Cleveland and Davis-Besse in Ottawa County near Toledo will most likely be up to a federal bankruptcy judge.
A major decision on the fate of Ohio's atomic reactors is expected in early April. Shutdown, sale, or taking them private seem the most likely outcomes.
Beyond Nuclear has long called for Davis-Besse's permanent shutdown, as a vital safety matter. We helped lead a binational environmental coalition, represented by Toledo attorney Terry Lodge, which sought to block the 2017 to 2037 license extension. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rubber-stamped the license extension anyway, despite our best efforts.
In recent weeks, Beyond Nuclear published an op-ed in the Toledo Blade, and a letter to the editor in the Columbus Dispatch, pointing out the safety imperative of closing Davis-Besse ASAP.
And in recent days, Beyond Nuclear joined with Michigan and Ohio colleagues, to call attention to multiple problems at the Perry atomic reactor as well.
FirstEnergy names new board chairman, shakes up senior executives
As reported by the Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com.
The shake up, explained as a structural transition to returning to regulated utility status, may auger bankruptcy in the near future for FirstEnergy's coal and nuclear power plants, leading to their potential sale or permanent shutdown.
The nuclear power plants involved are Davis-Besse east of Toledo, and Perry east of Cleveland; both are on the Lake Erie shore of northern Ohio. Also, the Beaver Valley Units 1 & 2 reactors in Pennsylvania, west of Pittsburgh near the Ohio line, on the Beaver River.
Early April has been rumored as the decision time for FirstEnergy's teetering coal and nuclear plants.
Beyond Nuclear has long called for Davis-Besse's permanent shutdown, as a vital safety matter. We helped lead a binational environmental coalition, represented by Toledo attorney Terry Lodge, which sought to block the 2017 to 2037 license extension. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rubber-stamped the license extension anyway, despite our best efforts.
In recent weeks, Beyond Nuclear published an op-ed in the Toledo Blade, and a letter to the editor in the Columbus Dispatch, pointing out the safety imperative of closing Davis-Besse ASAP.
And in recent days, Beyond Nuclear joined with Michigan and Ohio colleagues, to call attention to multiple problems at the Perry atomic reactor as well.
Country’s Largest Grid Operator May Be Using Americans’ Monthly Bills to Fund Campaign Donations
Public Citizen Files Complaint With FERC Against PJM, Which Operates in 13 States, to Better Disclose Its Political Expenditures
See the full filing by Public Citizen, submitted to FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission).
Recently, Public Citizen was a lead group, successfully advocating on behalf of the public interest, against the Trump administration proposal to FERC, to bail out old coal and nuclear plants, to the tune of $180 billion over time, at ratepayer expense.
That fight has now moved to the Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) themselves, such as PJM (short for Pennsylvia, Jersey, Maryland, although 13 states comprise PJM).