A Balance of Electricity Generating Technology is Needed to Assure a Robust US Electricity Grid and Clean Air
Last week, First Energy announced that it plans to begin closing three nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The list of planned nuclear power plant closings is growing. Nuclear power provides the overwhelming portion of carbon free electricity generated in the US and it is available 24/7 when the sun is not shining, the wind is not blowing, or drought conditions reduce hydropower generating capacity.
We need our policymakers to act on ways to value nuclear power for the full benefit it provides to the security of our energy markets and the public at large.
John Kotek, Vice President of Policy Development and Public Affairs for the Nuclear Energy Institute put it this way, "The announcement from FirstEnergy to retire more than 4,000 MW of nuclear power generation demonstrates the urgency for policymakers to act before it is too late. All options to prevent the closure of nuclear plants should be explored."
Losing these plants will imperil the resilience of the grid and impact cost to consumers. The Department of Energy just released a study that showed PJM was reliant upon economically challenged plants to provide generation during the bomb cyclone event this winter. Even with these plants helping to provide power, electricity prices soared above $200 per megawatt hour as fossil fuel prices spiked. Managing severe cold weather events without these nuclear plants will be costlier as the system will depend on less resilient sources of energy.
"Further, these three nuclear plants generated more non-emitting electricity than all of the wind and all of the solar produced in PJM last year combined."
