Illinois Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee Passes Bill Supporting State’s Nuclear Energy Plants: Exelon
March 26 2015 - 1:37PM
Business Wire
The Illinois Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee today
passed Senate Bill 1585, legislation to establish a Low Carbon
Portfolio Standard (LCPS) that would bolster Illinois’ clean energy
leadership, support the state’s nuclear energy facilities and
protect jobs, consumers and a reliable electricity supply.
“We commend Senator Donne Trotter for his leadership and the
members of the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee in
helping to advance this important legislation to position Illinois
at the forefront of nationwide efforts to cut carbon emissions
while limiting consumer impacts,” said Joseph Dominguez, Exelon’s
executive vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs and
public policy. “We support the LCPS because it would reduce harmful
emissions, provide for the development of additional renewable
energy, and help keep electricity reliable and affordable for
Illinois families and businesses.”
The LCPS would require ComEd and Ameren to purchase low carbon
energy credits to match 70 percent of the electricity used on the
distribution system. It is a technology-neutral solution, which
means it would allow all low carbon energy sources – including
wind, solar, hydro, clean coal and nuclear – to compete on equal
footing.
“This legislation represents an all-of-the-above energy strategy
that would make Illinois the national leader in low carbon energy,”
said Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago. “In addition to supporting our
nuclear plants and the many benefits they provide, the Low Carbon
Portfolio Standard will create opportunities to continue to grow
other low-carbon energy resources in the state, such as wind,
solar, hydro and clean coal.”
The LCPS was a potential solution presented in a January 2015
report by four Illinois state agencies that considered the economic
and environmental benefits of the state’s nuclear energy
facilities. These six plants generate nearly half of the state’s
electricity and 90 percent of its carbon-free power. The report
found that closing the three at-risk nuclear energy facilities
would result in $1.8 billion annually in lost economic activity,
8,000 job losses, and cost as much as $1.1 billion per year due to
increases in carbon and other pollutants. According to a PJM
analysis in the report, the plant shutdowns would result in up to
$500 million annually in higher energy costs statewide.
“Nuclear plants in Illinois support thousands of good-paying,
full-time, permanent jobs, but possible nuclear plant closures put
many of those jobs at risk,” said Michael T. Carrigan, President,
Illinois AFL-CIO. “We support the Low Carbon Portfolio Standard
because it would support these existing low carbon energy resources
and support the development of new ones, leading to additional new
jobs.”
The LCPS proposal includes strong consumer protections,
including a consumer price cap that would limit the impact to a
2.015 percent increase, or about $2 per month for the average
Illinois residential electricity customer – less than the costs
customers would face if the nuclear plants close early. A separate
customer rebate provision would provide a direct bill credit to
customers if wholesale electricity prices exceed a specified
level.
The LCPS legislation has broad, bipartisan support among
legislators, business, labor and community leaders.
Learn more about the LCPS and Illinois’ nuclear energy
facilities at www.nuclearpowersillinois.com.
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) is the nation’s leading
competitive energy provider, with 2014 revenues of approximately
$27.4 billion. Headquartered in Chicago, Exelon does business in 48
states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is one of the
largest competitive U.S. power generators, with more than 32,000
megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest
and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s
Constellation business unit provides energy products and services
to more than 2.5 million residential, public sector and business
customers, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100.
Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than
7.8 million customers in central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois
(ComEd) and southeastern Pennsylvania (PECO). Follow Exelon on
Twitter @Exelon.
Exelon CorporationPaul Elsberg, 312-394-7417Corporate
Communicationspaul.elsberg@exeloncorp.com
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