FirstEnergy plans to close Beaver Valley, two other nuke plants
Plans are in the works to shut down three FirstEnergy nuclear power plants, including the Beaver Valley Power Station near East Liverpool due to the cost of operating the facilities.
Plans are in the works to shut down three FirstEnergy nuclear power plants, including the Beaver Valley Power Station near East Liverpool due to the cost of operating the facilities.
A subsidiary of FirstEnergy announced on Wednesday that it plans to deactivate two plants in Ohio, and the Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania over the next three years.
FirstEnergy says 2,300 employees would be impacted by the plant closings.
It's been two years since FirstEnergy first announced that it would exit competitive, or non-regulated, generation due to what the company cited as weak power prices, insufficient results from recent capacity auctions, and weak demand forecasts.
Under the current timeline, the Beaver Valley plant in Shippingport, Pa., which generates 1,872 megawatts, would be taken out of service by 2021.
The Perry Nuclear Power Plant, east of Cleveland along the shores of Lake Erie, would close in 2021.
Perry has a generating capacity of 1,268 megawatts.
The Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station providing 908 megawatts in Oak Harbor, Ohio, would cease operations in 2020.
The total capacity of the nuclear plants to be deactivated is 4,048 megawatts.
In 2017, the three plants provided approximately 65 percent of the electricity produced by the FirstEnergy.
FirstEnergy says it is reviewing it's two remaining coal plants and one natural gas plant, which generates 5,245 megawatts.
"Though the plants have taken aggressive measures to cut costs, the market challenges facing these units are beyond their control,” said Don Moul, president of FirstEnergy Solutions Generation Companies and chief nuclear officer.
For now, the plants continue normal operations, as FirstEnergy says it is hoping for a legislative alternative to deactivating or selling the plants.
"We call on elected officials in Ohio and Pennsylvania to consider policy solutions that would recognize the importance of these facilities to the employees and local economies in which they operate, and the unique role they play in providing reliable, zero-emission electric power for consumers in both states,” said Moul. “We stand ready to roll up our sleeves and work with policymakers to find solutions that will make it feasible to continue to operate these plants in the future."
FirstEnergy says the plants have contributed more than $540 million in taxes throughout their operation to support local communities.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been verbally notified of the deactivations, and a required written notification will be made to the agency within 30 days.
In addition, notifications were made to the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and Nuclear Energy Institute, organizations that support the U.S. nuclear industry.
The two-year-plus lead time is needed to make the preparations for a potential plant deactivation, including preparing a detailed decommissioning plan and working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to amend plant licenses, according to FirstEnergy.
