If No One Wants the Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant to Close, Why is it Closing?

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

Date posted: 11/10/15

Dr. Conca reports that the Entergy Corporation announced recently it will prematurely close its Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant more than 20 years ahead of schedule, which the company says will save it $250 million. The State of New York says closing the plant will cost the state $500 million and devastate the local community. The loss of carbon-free emissions is closer to $3 billion. Almost every constituency and politician involved says they really do not want the plant to close, including the utility itself, the local community, the Governor of New York, the New York Representatives,the New York Senators and the Obama Administration. The real reason for the closing, like other recent nuclear plant closings, is the transient warped energy market structure of the unregulated merchant markets, especially in the north and east. In these competitive electricity markets, prices are lower than they should be because the rules and operations of the marketplace are not capable of capturing everything that should be included in the price. This is known as price formation and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is trying to fix this. According to Entergy, the decision to close the Fitzpatrick plant was based on the following factors: - Sustained low wholesale energy prices. Record-low natural gas prices from proximity to the Marcellus shale formation have caused power prices to fall $10 per megawatt-hour, costing Fitzpatrick more than $60 million in revenues per year. - Flawed market design. The market fails to recognize or adequately compensate nuclear generators for their benefits such as reliability and being emission-free. - Nuclear is never included in clean-energy mandates and does not receive the types of subsidies or production tax credits that renewables get. - The Fitzpatrick plant carries a high cost structure because it is a single unit, like the other plants recently closed and those at risk of closing. Most nuclear plants have 2 or 3 reactors.