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FirstEnergy: PJM Study Ignores Value Of Nuclear Plants In Zero-Carbon Emissions Generation

FirstEnergy Solutions, a competitive generation subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., Monday responded to a reliability study issued by PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization.

The study was undertaken following FES's March 28, 2018, notification that it would deactivate its three nuclear plants, two in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania, over the next three years.

As it signaled in public statements following the FES notification, PJM said it does not expect the plant deactivations to adversely affect the reliability of its transmission system.

What was new in the study was PJM's revelation that to maintain reliability, it must carry out "a combination of remedial measures" to prevent overloads of transformers and transmission lines and other strains on its system associated with the withdrawal of the FES plants from service.

Don Moul, president of FES Generation Companies and chief nuclear officer, issued the following statement:

"PJM's reliability finding was not a surprise, but it was a disappointment. The results of the PJM reliability study highlight that their review ignores the value that these units offer the grid in terms of fuel diversity and zero-carbon emissions generation.

“The 4,048 megawatts of capacity that these plants provide amounts to 14 percent of Ohio's overall generation capacity and 7 percent of Pennsylvania's overall generation capacity. That gap will have to be filled overwhelmingly by carbon-fueled generation.

"PJM did not provide a dollar estimate for the upgrades its system will need to cope with the loss of our units, but those remediation costs will be passed along to Ohio and Pennsylvania consumers in the form of higher electricity bills.

"We again call on legislative and regulatory officials to work with us on policy solutions to enable our plants to continue to play their critical role in the reliability, fuel-diversity and resilience of our regional grid.

“When calculating the cost of operating relief for our units, we ask policy makers to do all the math: Factor in the value of zero-carbon emissions for so great a portion of Ohio and Pennsylvania's generation needs, factor in the contributions that our facilities and their employees make to local and regional economies, and factor in the cost of the PJM upgrades that consumers must bear if our capacity is retired.

"In mid-2019, we will begin facing decisions on each of these plants as to whether to refuel them or shut them down. Without operating relief, they will be permanently lost."

The retirement schedule of the nuclear plants is as follows:

-- Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, Oak Harbor, Ohio, by May 31, 2020

-- Beaver Valley Power Station Unit No. 1, Shippingport, Pa., by May 31, 2021

-- Perry Nuclear Power Plant, Perry, Ohio, by May 31, 2021

-- Beaver Valley Power Station Unit No. 2, Shippingport, Pa., by October 31, 2021

The closure of the plants will affect about 2,300 plant employees.

(Photo: Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant, Beaver County.)

NewsClips:

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