Barring state or federal intervention, FirstEnergy will be forced to shut down its Perry, Davis-Besse and Beaver Valley plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Exelon’s Three Mile Island nuclear plant is facing a similar fate in Pennsylvania. This is a crucial moment for our country as this decision has wide ranging consequences for the electrical grid. What will actually happen if these plants do shut down?
- 3,000 jobs will be lost. The Brattle Group reports that about 3,000 employees will be affected by the plant closures. That’s a lot, but it could cost thousands more when you consider that nuclear plants are often economic anchors for their communities. For every 100 nuclear plant jobs, 66 more are created in the local community.
- Carbon emissions will skyrocket. Without these plants, our carbon emissions goals get much harder to reach. Fossil fuel facilities will most likely replace the more than 4,000 megawatts of generating capacity that these four nuclear plants provide. Those plants produce more carbon-free electricity yearly than all of the wind and solar in the region combined. If the plants are replaced with fossil fuels, Ohio and Pennsylvania would see an increase in carbon emissions the equivalent of adding 4.5 million cars to the road. We’ve seen this before. After Vermont Yankee closed in 2014, the New England grid operator reported an increase in carbon emissions the next year.
- Consumer electricity bills will go up. Closing nuclear plants would increase wholesale electricity prices, which in turn would increase costs to ratepayers. Losing energy diversity by closing nuclear plants would have an impact on consumers. An IHS Markit study found that our current diverse electricity portfolio lowered the average retail price of electricity by up to 27 percent.
- Small towns will suffer. If these plants close, state and local tax revenues would fall by tens of millions of dollars, according to The Brattle Group. Residents around Davis-Besse are bracing for the impending shutdown. Knowing the impact a potential closure could have, the Benton-Carroll-Salem School District passed a resolution last year in support of a zero-emission credit legislation that could help the plant stay open. Without these contributions, local communities could be at risk. Just ask small towns like Vernon, Vermont, or Zion, Illinois, that have suffered when plants closed prematurely.
- The grid will be less resilient against severe weather. U.S. nuclear plants are regularly top performers on the grid during extreme weather events. During the 2014 polar vortex, nuclear plants performed better than all other forms of generation—operating with an average capacity factor of 95 percent—and kept the lights and heat on for millions. A recent U.S. Department of Energy study showed that grid operator PJM Interconnection relied on nuclear energy to provide electricity during the “bomb cyclone” event this winter. If the Ohio and Pennsylvania plants are closed, consumers could see an increased threat of blackouts during severe weather.
The four plants mean too much to these states, the regional grid, and the environment to let them close without a fight. Act now to protect the plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania and to preserve a clean energy future for the United States.