Nuclear Plants Provide Jobs, Clean Energy

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 04/20/15

Chris Crane, CEO of Exelon, commented that Exelon is one of the 12 largest companies in Illinois, with more than 12,700 employees statewide. So it was surprising to see a Texas company suggesting that we are not from around here in a Dynegy CEO Bob Flexon April 9 guest view. To the contrary, Exelon, and specifically the six nuclear energy plants here, are a critical economic engine for the state of Illinois. Last year, Exelon spent 2.4 billion dollars with 6,000 local businesses and gave 14.7 million dollars to Illinois nonprofits - few out-of-state companies could match that. In addition, its nuclear energy plants generate clean, reliable energy critical to the Illinois economy. They were designed and built to power both northern and southern Illinois, producing nearly half of the state total electricity and 90 percent of its carbon-free power. Together, they create nearly 9 billion dollars of economic value throughout the state and are responsible for 28,000 jobs. While Dynegy may not have made much in the way of investments in their facilities, Exelon is constantly investing in its state-of-the-art nuclear energy plants to add the latest technologies and keep them operating safely and reliably. In fact, we have invested more capital in some of our nuclear plants than the original cost to build them, and we spend nearly 1 billion dollars per year on maintaining their safety and reliability. Although Illinois nuclear plants are extremely well run, three of the plants are losing money every year, putting them at risk of being shut down. The consequences of closing these plants would be catastrophic for customers in southern Illinois and the surrounding region. According to the Illinois Commerce Commission and the grid operators responsible for southern Illinois, closing the Clinton Nuclear Power Plant alone would cause prices to spike by 240-340 million dollars annually for families and business in southern Illinois and the region.