Strange bedfellows
Monday, Sep 12, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Crain’s…
An unlikely but powerful force is coming to the aid of the beleaguered owner of Illinois’ largest fleet of coal-fired power plants.
Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear power generator and a frequent critic of its peers that burn coal, has floated a plan that would raise electricity prices in downstate Illinois and potentially keep open several coal-fired plants slated for closure. As recently as April, a senior Exelon executive accused the operator of those plants of using “the sky as a carbon sink.”
But the Chicago-based power giant has not suddenly had a change of heart. It’s gearing up for another run at winning subsidies from Springfield to save two of its nuclear power plants that are on the chopping block and feels like it needs the support of the state’s second-largest power generator, Houston-based Dynegy. That could help win votes from downstate lawmakers Exelon will surely need to secure backing for a statewide electric bill surcharge to benefit the money-losing Clinton and Quad Cities nukes, two of six stations Exelon operates in Illinois.
Dynegy dominates the power market in downstate Illinois and has opposed Exelon’s legislation. Executives at the two companies are meeting regularly, sources say.
At the same time, execs at Exelon and its Commonwealth Edison subsidiary have been in talks for more than a year with leaders of environmental and consumer groups as well as renewable-energy developers on a compromise. That would keep the nukes open and spur development of wind farms in Illinois, which have been stalled for years.
If they do cut a deal with the coal power generators, the question then becomes what the environmental folks do. There might be some division within those ranks, as the rest of the story hints.
- Abe the Babe - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 4:05 pm:
Peel off CUB and a couple enviros and claim you have an agreed bill. It Worked the last 10 times why not again?
Sheesh. these people.
- Ok - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 4:24 pm:
“Peel off CUB and a couple enviros and claim you have an agreed bill. ”
Certainly didn’t work when those enviros and the attorney general were pushing the Tenaska Tax.
- Anonymous - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 4:48 pm:
Why is Sierra Club ok with a deal that keeps coal plants running? If they’re not ok with it, why didn’t Jack Darin comment? Talk about an unholy alliance!
This seems like the worst of all possible worlds. We all pay more and ensure coal plants spew millions of tons of CO2 for years to come. WTH???
- Anonymous - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 4:52 pm:
–Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear power generator and a frequent critic of its peers that burn coal…–
These guys count on spinning you dizzy.
Why is there a presumption that the money boys at Exelon and Dynergy have opposite interests? Their shared interest is high electricity prices, regardless of the source.
By the way, that’s a tax, my friend, on everyone who turns on the light.
Exelon was once the biggest coal burner in the United States until they sold off. You think their execs didn’t keep a piece of the action?
- Anonymous - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 4:54 pm:
Oh, and what happened to Sierra Club’s “BEYOND COAL” campaign?
- Anon221 - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 5:01 pm:
Darin and Learner need to stand together. Exelon is moving into other regulated markets. If they have the money to buy out other nukes, then they have the money to self-support- New York State subsidies and all.
- Ggeo - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 5:05 pm:
Chill out Howard. I am sure not everyone is as eager as you to get your name in the press…
The fact is, this coal/nuke deal doesn’t go anywhere. It is campaign literature for folks downstate.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 5:29 pm:
Anon 4:52, good to hear from you.
- Anonymous - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 6:39 pm:
–Anon 4:52, good to hear from you. –
LOL, only way I can get through.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Sep 12, 16 @ 9:42 pm:
Anon 4:52/6:39, feel free to use my handle. The quality of my posts would improve noticeably lol.
- Hugo Stiglitz - Tuesday, Sep 13, 16 @ 5:00 am:
Here’s another one where the so-called union-friendly Democrats bite the hands that vote for them and don’t even know it. Coal and nuclear plants are some of the biggest employers of union workers still around, but the Dems have caved in to the far-left environmental niche and instead support plopping down foreign-made wind and solar farms as far as the eye can see.