WASHINGTON, D.C.—FirstEnergy Solutions Corporation today filed a 202(c) petition requesting U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry to issue an emergency order directing PJM Interconnection to immediately begin negotiations to protect certain nuclear plants in the region by compensating their owners “for the full benefits they provide to energy markets and the public at large, including fuel security and diversity.”

The following statement can be attributed to John Kotek, NEI Vice President of Policy Development and Public Affairs:

“The announcement from FirstEnergy to retire more than 4,000 MW of nuclear power generation demonstrates the urgency for policymakers to act before it is too late. All options to prevent the closure of nuclear plants should be explored.

“Losing these plants will imperil the resilience of the grid and impact cost to consumers. The Department of Energy just released a study that showed PJM was reliant upon economically challenged plants to provide generation during the bomb cyclone event this winter.  Even with these plants helping to provide power, electricity prices soared above $200 per megawatt hour as fossil fuel prices spiked.  Managing severe cold weather events without these nuclear plants will be costlier as the system will depend on less resilient sources of energy.

“Further, these three nuclear plants generated more non-emitting electricity than all of the wind and all of the solar produced in PJM last year combined.”