"Exelon plans cost cuts, won't rule out layoffs"

As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Illinois-based Exelon Nuclear has warned its employees that layoffs may lie ahead, as five atomic reactors in the state continue to hemorrhage money.

Exelon has been buffeted recently. The Washington, D.C. Public Service Commission (PSC) rejected Exelon's proposed takeover of Mid-Atlantic utility Pepco. The PJM capacity auction left Exelon reactors in three states in the lurch. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan did not give nuclear lobbyists, especially at Exelon, what they wanted. And the Illinois State Legislature went on summer recess on May 31st, without giving Exelon the $1.5 billion bailout it requested, at ratepayer expense, to prop up its uncompetitive reactors.

During testimony under oath before the DC PSC, Exelon Nuclear CEO Chris Crane, who wrote the memo that prompted the Chicago Tribune article above, also indicated that should Exelon takeover Pepco, job cuts at Pepco will follow. Exelon and Pepco have made known they plan to appeal the DC PSC's rejection by the 30-day deadline.

"Gas deal could signal Southern’s drift from new nuclear projects"

As reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, a $12 billion deal merging Southern Co. and the AGL natural gas utility could mark the end of the "nuclear renaissance" for Southern.

The article reports:

This deal signals that “the nuclear renaissance is over for Southern,” said Robert “Bobby” Brown, a regulatory lawyer and former member of Georgia’s utility regulator, the Public Service Commission.

The article goes on:

The Atlanta company is building two new nuclear power units at its Vogtle site in Georgia and an advanced-technology coal-fired plant in Mississippi. Both those projects are years behind schedule and have resulted in billions of dollars of cost overruns that will be born by Southern’s shareholders or customers, or both. (emphasis added)

The Obama administration awarded Southern and its partners at Vogtle 3 & 4 a whopping $8.3 billion in federal taxpayer-back loans and loan guarantees. If the project defaults on its loan repayment, federal taxpayers would be left holding the bag.

That's 15 times more money than was lost to the U.S. Treasury by the Solyndra solar loan guarantee default. And Vogtle 3 & 4's risk of default is higher than Solyndra's was determined to be when the solar loan guarantee was awarded.

In addition to taxpayer subsidies, Vogtle 3 & 4 has been financed by "Construction Work in Progress" -- surcharges on ratepayers' electricity bills that are illegal in most states.

Crain's Chicago Business: "Exelon wants a market that's not quite so open"

Crain's Chicago Business concludes its editorial critical of Exelon's request for a $1.5 billion ratepayer bailout from the Illinois State Legislature, in order to prop up several of its uncompetitive atomic reactors:

Funny thing about competitive markets: Sometimes prices go up and sometimes they go down. Yet Exelon's recommended solution to helping its existing plants is greater governmental intervention in the form of mandatory surcharges. If the company wants Springfield to mandate higher rates for its generation facilities, it should become a regulated company—with a set return on investment—and abandon the fiction that it's all about an open market.

Crain's also gets in some good licks regarding Exelon's hypocritical position opposing wind power subsidies (lobbying to eliminate them as unwanted competition for its nuclear division, while its own wind power division took advantage of them -- a position that got it kicked out of the American Wind Energy Association!), as well as its generation of forever deadly radioactive waste (which the public also subsidizes, by the way; energy economist Mark Cooper at Vermont Law School has calculated that the first 200 years of radioactive waste management will cost ratepayers and taxpayers $210-450 billion! That figure alone doubles the cost of nuclear generated electricity, except that the externality has never been accounted for!).

VICTORY: DC PSC rejects Exelon Nuclear's takeover of Pepco!

Logo courtesy of Public Citizen's Energy and Climate ProgramThe Washington, D.C. Public Service Commission has voted unanimously to reject Exelon Nuclear's attempted takeover of the Mid-Atlantic electric utility Pepco. This blocks the acquisition, despite other jurisdictions -- including in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and New Jersey -- having already approved the proposal.

As reported by AP: "[D.C. Public Service] Commission chairman Betty Ann Kane says the companies did not meet their burden of showing that the proposed merger would benefit the public."

Beyond Nuclear has been proud, honored, and privileged to be a part of the PowerDC coalition -- led by such groups as Public Citzen's Energy and Climate Program (see logo, left) -- sending out action alerts to our D.C. supporters, attending rallies, press conferences, and public meetings, bearing witness at Exelon Nuclear CEO Chris Crane's testimony before the D.C. PSC, etc.

PowerDC deserves congratulations and thanks. It has consistently warned about the dangers of Exelon taking over Pepco, from the gouging of D.C. ratepayers in order to prop up dirty, dangerous, and uncompetitive old atomic reactors in IL, to the sabotaging of D.C.'s strides in renewable energy and energy efficiency. 

As NIRS has tweeted in response to the P.S.C. decision, "Clean energy prevails in DC--a decision that will reverberate across the nation." NIRS president, Michael Mariotte, has just blogged at GreenWorld about another blow to Exelon's atomic reactor fleet -- the failure of three nuclear plants, in three different states, to clear the PJM transmission grid's capacity auction. What's this mean? As Mariotte reports, "most experts seem to think that Exelon will be announcing within the next few weeks [Quad Cities'] permanent shutdown, probably by 2017."

Another recent blow suffered by Exelon was the Illinois state legislature's recess on May 31, 2015, till autumn, without caving to the nuclear lobbyists' demand for a massive $1.5 billion bailout, at the expense of ratepayers. No group has worked harder to block that money grab than Nuclear Energy Information Service of Chicago.

And today's hard-won victory -- D.C. PSC's wise decision to reject the Exelon takeover of Pepco -- means additional atomic reactors may also be announcing their permanent shutdown, sooner rather than later!

Update on August 25, 2015 by admin

NEIS of Chicago has issued a press release.

Update on August 25, 2015 by admin

At 4pm Eastern, Public Citizen emailed out this alert, calling on folks to thank the DC PSC:

Just hours ago, D.C. regulators rejected a Chicago-based megautility’s bid to take over Pepco!

Rejection of the deal is a major victory for the region’s residents as well as a defeat for corporate control and outdated, dirty energy sources.

Join us in applauding the D.C. regulators who stood up to Exelon.

And while the D.C. Public Service Commission (PSC) should be commended for today’s victory, it would not have happened without the thousands of citizens, including you, who registered their opposition to Exelon’s power grab.

The District was the last jurisdiction to vote on the deal — Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey yielded to corporate pressure and conditionally approved the takeover — and the only one to reject it.

There was tremendous pressure on D.C. regulators to approve the takeover, and there will likely be continued pressure on them to reconsider their decision. Exelon has 30 days to ask the PSC for a reevaluation.

In announcing its decision, the commissioners acknowledged the role of the engaged D.C. citizenry and the tenacious coalition of organizations — including Public Citizen — that mobilized the opposition to the deal.

Take a moment to thank the Commission for listening to the citizens of D.C., who called on them to stop Exelon’s power grab and urged them to stand strong against pressure from Exelon.

Add your name to our thank-you note to the D.C. Public Service Commission.

Today is a good day for consumer advocacy and the path toward clean and local power — and it wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Thank you,

Allison Fisher
Public Citizen’s Climate and Energy Program

Update on August 25, 2015 by admin

Michael Mariotte, President of NIRS, has responded to the DC PSC ruling with a GreenWorld blog. He introduced it this way:

For Exelon, it’s a different story. Wall Street has been eyeing Exelon’s overreliance on a failing, merchant nuclear fleet and urging the company to move in a different direction. Taking over Pepco was the company’s response to that pressure. Now, Exelon would seem to have few options–and a lot less cash coming in to cover those nuclear-related losses, than it was hoping for.

And Wall Street reacted the way only Wall Street can: within an hour of the decision, CNBC was reporting on Twitter that trading in Exelon/Pepco shares had been briefly suspended, then resumed with a surely terrifying 15% drop in its share price.

Update on August 25, 2015 by admin

Exelon and Pepco (which also favored the merger, given the windfall its shareholders would have received -- at the eventual significant expense of its ratepayers) issued a statement of "disappointment" regarding the DC PSC ruling. However, the statement also concluded with the ominous warning, "We will review our options with respect to this decision and will respond once that process is complete."

This is a reminder that ongoing vigilance is required, as Exelon could very well appeal to the DC PSC for a reconsideration, could make a revised application to merge with Pepco, or could take the matter to court.

Update on August 25, 2015 by admin

Thomas Heath has also reported on this story in the Washington Post, including this:

Power DC applauded the decision.

“Thousands of those customers, dozens of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, and at least six D.C. Councilmembers strongly opposed Exelon’s acquisition of Pepco because it is not in the public interest of the District,” the organization said in a statement following the decision.

“As the Commission recognized in its decision, the proposed acquisition would have been a substantial step backwards in the District’s efforts to move toward more sustainable electricity generation and greater reliance on local, renewable energy. It would have exposed D.C. residents and businesses to the risk of steeply rising electricity bills.”

Update on August 25, 2015 by admin

Regarding today's news, BloombergBusiness reports:

Shares Decline

Pepco, based in Washington, fell 16 percent to $22.51 a share in New York, the largest drop in 13 years. Exelon fell 6.9 percent to $30.40, the most since May 2013.

Update on August 26, 2015 by admin

CCAN has released a statement hailing the DC PSC's decision:

Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a group that intervened before the PSC in Maryland against the proposed merger, released the following statement in response:

“Today’s ruling is a major victory for people across D.C., Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey and for the growth of clean energy across our region. In the end, all of Exelon’s money, lawyers and lobbyists couldn’t mask the overwhelming facts, confirmed today by the D.C. PSC, that this deal would be a boon for Exelon and Pepco shareholders and bad for virtually everyone else.

“We applaud the PSC for recognizing that this nearly $7 billion proposed merger would have raised rates and stunted wind and solar development, as well as efficiency gains, across D.C.’s customer base for electricity. In the end, the D.C. PSC joined with the District’s environmental community, six Councilmembers, 27 out of DC’s 40 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANC), the Office of People’s Counsel, and many others in rejecting this deal.

“Now that this harmful, monopolistic proposal has been rejected, it is time to give new life to real solutions to D.C. and Maryland’s energy challenges. These solutions include a significant expansion of wind and solar power, energy efficiency gains, community-based energy systems and microgrids, and improved overall grid reliability. One good idea that emerged from the proposed Exelon-Pepco was to create a PSC-guided process to explore ‘performance-based ratemaking.’ Utilities should be rewarded based on how well they perform on energy improvements that enhance our economy and reduce carbon emissions and climate change. Hopefully, we can now move on to these solutions.”

Update on August 27, 2015 by admin

Listen to Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps (from the 17:43 to 18:28 minute marks) rebut misinformation from pro-merger spokesman Jim Dinegar, President and CEO, Greater Washington Board of Trade, on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU (NPR radio in Washington, D.C.) on Aug. 27th regarding the Exelon Nuclear takeover of Pepco.

Kevin pointed out that Exelon Nuclear has five dirty, dangeorus, aged, and uncompetitive atomic reactors in IL hemorrhaging money, and on the brink of closure, so Exelon would look to funnel funding from Pepco's Mid-Atlantic region ratepayers to help prop them up. He also pointed out that Exelon has under-funded its decommissioning funds in IL, so would also look to its newly acquired ratepayers from the Pepco takeover to replenish those missing funds, perhaps to the tune of billions of dollars.

And lastly, Kevin pointed out that Exelon Nuclear is the only company ever to be kicked out of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). AWEA did so because Exelon lobbied against wind power production tax credits -- while Exelon's own wind division hypocritcally was taking those very subsidies!

Another guest on the show, WAMU reporter Jonathon Wilson, put together a list of "5 Things to Know After the Exelon-Pepco Merger Was Rejected."

Update on August 31, 2015 by admin

The Chicago Tribune has reported that Exelon and Pepco will appeal the DC PSC ruling, and will continue to seek the merger.

"FirstEnergy backs away from free market, wants you to buy its more expensive power"

Davis-Besse is located on the Lake Erie shore in Oak Harbor, OH. The concrete Shield Building, located to the right of the cooling tower, is severely cracked. The cracking grows worse with every freeze.As reported by John Funk at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the half-baked request by FirstEnergy -- to overcharge ratepayers more than $3 billion on electricity bills, over the next 15 years, just to prop up the dirty, dangerous, expensive and old Davis-Besse atomic reactor and the Sammis coal burner -- is going to hearing on Aug. 31st. This, despite the fact that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio staff have repeatedly missed deadlines to publish their analysis and recommendations regarding the huge money grab.

Beyond Nuclear and environmental allies have officially intervened against the 20-year license extension at Davis-Besse since Dec. 27, 2010. Very recently, the environmental coalition's attorney, Terry Lodge of Toledo, as well as attorneys Diane Curran of Washington, D.C. and Mindy Goldstein of Atlanta, filed an appeal in the Davis-Besse Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) proceeding at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the second highest court in the land. The appeal, dubbed New York v. NRC II, challenges NRC's "Nuclear Waste Confidence" policy. In its ruling on New York v. NRC I in June 2012, the court ordered NRC to carry out an Environmental Impact Statement on radioactive waste generation at atomic reactors like Davis-Besse, as well as to address: the risks of storage pool leaks of radioactivity into soil, groundwater, and surface waters; the risks of fires in storage pools; and the risk of a repository never being opened, meaning the irradiated nuclear fuel could remain on-site at places such as Davis-Besse indefinitely into the future. Beyond Nuclear et al. allege NRC flagrantly flouted the court orders. A favorable ruling for Beyond Nuclear in New York v. NRC II could mean a significant delay in the Davis-Besse license extension. Davis-Besse's initial 40-year license expires on Earth Day (April 22), 2017.

Update on August 20, 2015 by admin

As reported by Tom Knox at Columbus Business First, FirstEnergy Nuclear has tried to deny attempting to scare its Ohio customers. The chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), Andre Porter, made the accusation after a sample lobbying letter was revealed, posted on FirstEnergy's website. FirstEnergy has requested permission from PUCO for a $3 billion, or more, subsidy, at ratepayer expense, to prop up its dirty, dangerous, expensive, and age-degraded Davis-Besse atomic reactor, and Sammis coal burner.

The sample lobbying letter alleged that without the bailout, the two plants would shut down, impacting electricity reliability across Ohio.

The article quoted PUCO Chairman Porter's response to such arguments:

“Stop trying to scare Ohioans,” Porter said. “We’re going to continue to have reliable power. We’re going to continue to have cost-effective services. So stop trying to scare Ohioans.”

However, if the PUCO approve the $3 billion money grab by FirstEnergy, electricity services would become proportionately less cost-effective, by definition!