- Proposal would block Millstone’s participation in zero-carbon auction until 2023
- NEI urges DEEP to include plant in zero carbon procurements as early as 2019
- Dominion warns delay for Millstone only increases the plant’s economic uncertainty
In response to a proposal by a Connecticut state agency to significantly delay the inclusion of Dominion Energy’s Millstone Power Station in the state’s zero-carbon procurement program, NEI is urging the agency to bring the state’s only nuclear power plant into the program promptly.
“Millstone provides significant benefits to Connecticut and New England that will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to replace,” NEI’s July 20 letter to the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) stated. “DEEP should revise the RFP [request for proposal] to immediately recognize the environmental value Millstone provides to Connecticut citizens and allow Millstone to participate in this procurement opportunity with a start date as early as 2019.”
In 2017, Connecticut passed a law allowing Dominion Energy’s Millstone to bid into markets with other zero-carbon energy sources like wind, solar and hydropower. However, DEEP’s draft RFP said that the plant could not begin to be compensated under the state’s Zero Carbon procurement program until at least June 2023.
Over the past five years, 18 nuclear reactors at 14 sites across the United States have either closed or their premature closings have been announced. The closings encompass the loss of more than 15,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity and more than 10,000 jobs.
Millstone provides 98 percent of Connecticut’s emissions-free electricity.
“If implemented, the draft RFP would delay any compensation for providing clean electricity until an ‘At Risk Time Period’ begins,” NEI said. “This approach is both unfounded and risks the loss of the large amount of clean energy Millstone provides. It is not what the Governor and General Assembly intended.”
Dominion Energy also sent a letter to DEEP Commissioner Rob Klee, saying that delaying Millstone’s participation in the zero carbon procurement program only increases uncertainty over the plant’s future.
“Millstone is at risk now, and Dominion Energy must face critical business decisions regarding the future of Millstone, irrespective of the consequences those decisions might have on Connecticut or the New England region,” Executive Vice President and President and CEO of Dominion Energy’s power generation group Paul Koonce said in the letter.
“Dominion Energy respectfully submits that the proposed limitation is inappropriate and should be removed. A resource is either at risk or it is not…To decide in 2018 that an existing resource is at risk but to only treat it as such five years from now will not provide the required economic certainty.”
Other groups have weighed in on the issue.
Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) wrote to DEEP, noting the negative effects its premature closure would have.
“PURA suggests that DEEP consider permitting more flexibility in its bidding and evaluation requirements by not specifying an ‘at risk time period’ in advance of the proceeding,” the letter said. “Additionally, PURA notes that the loss of a significant portion of zero-carbon resources may increase reliance on natural gas or other fossil-fueled resources, and could pose additional concerns such as backsliding on emissions reductions or adding additional strain to real-time system operations in winter.”
And a group of 16 Connecticut lawmakers sent DEEP a letter complaining that the department’s 2023 proposal “unilaterally” changes their legislative intent to include nuclear in the zero-carbon auction and fully value Millstone’s benefits.
“Neither Dominion Energy, nor the workers at Millstone, nor the ratepayers, nor Connecticut can afford the delayed implementation of the auction to 2023,” the lawmakers said. “A premature retirement of Millstone will certainly result in higher electricity costs for Connecticut's ratepayers, the loss of thousands of jobs, $30 million in local taxes, $1.5 billion to the state economy and the inability of the state to meet its clean air goals. The adverse economic and environmental ramifications cannot be overemphasized.”
Connecticut’s move to properly compensate its only nuclear plant mirrors similar action in New Jersey, New York and Illinois which have instituted Zero-Emissions Credit programs. Ohio and Pennsylvania are also considering policies to properly value nuclear energy in their states.
“It’s encouraging to see these four states take concrete steps to preserve their most important source of zero-emission electricity—nuclear plants,” NEI Senior Director of Policy Development Matt Crozat said. “We’re hoping more states follow their lead and act to properly compensate nuclear power in the marketplace.”
Millstone’s two reactors prevent the release of 8.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. The plant also supports 7,300 jobs in New England and generates an average annual economic benefit of more than $1.3 billion for the region. Once Entergy’s Pilgrim plant closes in May 2019, the two reactors at Millstone, along with Seabrook in New Hampshire, will be the only nuclear power plants operating in New England.
DEEP plans to issue a final RFP on July 31.