The Exelon Corporation announced last week its Clinton nuclear power plant will operate for at least another year after it cleared a recent power capacity auction.
But the company has frequently said the Clinton plant could shut down, if it remains unprofitable. Clinton power station spokesperson Brett Nauman says the plant hasn’t been profitable for several years because of falling energy prices, specifically because of an influx of natural gas into the energy market.
“You may have heard of the process known as fracking. That has created an abundance of natural gas energy, and it has driven down all energy prices across the board," Nauman said. "So, when this nuclear power plant produces electricity, it can’t produce electricity and have a profit at this point.”
Exelon is pushing state legislators to pass incentives for nuclear power, similar to what renewable power sources like wind and solar receive.
Nauman says without nuclear power, Illinois will be hard pressed to meet future EPA guidelines for carbon reduction. Exelon reported a profit of two-point-three billion dollars in 2015, but Nauman says the Clinton power station has lost nearly half a billion dollars since 2008.