Ohio-based utility company First Energy announced Wednesday that it intends to close three of its nuclear power plants, two in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania, calling on the states to enact policies to save the facilities.
“We call on elected officials in Ohio and Pennsylvania to consider policy solutions that would recognize the importance of these facilities to the employees and local economies in which they operate, and the unique role they play in providing reliable, zero-emission electric power for consumers in both states,” said Don Moul, president of company’s power plant arm and chief nuclear officer. “We stand ready to roll up our sleeves and work with policy makers to find solutions that will make it feasible to continue to operate these plants in the future.”
First Energy was one of the companies pushing the Trump administration to create market incentives for nuclear and coal power plants, but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected the plan.
Moul blamed the decision to close the plants on unfavorable market conditions.
“Though the plants have taken aggressive measures to cut costs, the market challenges facing these units are beyond their control,” he said.
The nuclear power industry has found it difficult to function economically in the era of low natural gas prices from the shale boom. The market where First Energy operates is dominated by natural gas power plants that supply an increasing percentage of the electricity in the region.
The plant closures will be subject to review by the large FERC-overseen grid operator PJM for the reliability impact.
The three plants include the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie near Toledo. The plant has had a history of safety issues, including when a large, rust-eaten hole was found in the top of the containment vessel that holds the nuclear core in 2002. The incident forced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to shut it down until repairs were made. It will be closed in 2020 under the company’s plan.
That will be followed by the closure of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio, in 2021, and the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pa., the same year.
The plants represented 65 percent of First Energy’s power plant fleet in 2017.
