By Rich Heidorn Jr. and Michael Yoder
The owners of the Beaver Valley nuclear plant have told PJM they will keep the plant in operation, citing Pennsylvania’s efforts to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
FirstEnergy Solutions had filed a deactivation notice for the two-unit, 1,872-MW nuclear plant in Shippingport, Pa., in March 2018, targeting a 2021 retirement.
FES changed its name to Energy Harbor Corp. upon emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month with former bondholders owning 50% of the equity. (See FERC OKs FES Sale to Bondholders.)
Energy Harbor CEO John Judge said Gov. Tom Wolf’s commitment to join RGGI “will begin to help level the playing field for our carbon-free nuclear generators. In addition, our retail growth strategy now offers carbon-free energy that allows customers to meet their environmental, social and sustainability goals.
“We are excited about the RGGI process implementation in early 2022 but would need to revisit deactivation if RGGI does not come to fruition as expected,” he added. Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled legislature has challenged Wolf’s authority to enroll the state in RGGI. (See Critics: Pa. RGGI Hearing Stacked with Detractors.)
Company officials did not respond to requests for comment on the revenue impact expected from RGGI.
According to the PJM Independent Market Monitor, Beaver Valley has been profitable in all but two of the last 12 years and had a surplus of $3/MWh in 2019. The IMM projects that Beaver Valley will have a surplus of $0.91/MWh in 2020 ($13.6 million total) and $3.41/MWh in 2021 ($50.3 million).
The company said it has verbally notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of its rescission of the deactivations and will submit written notification within 30 days.
Beaver Valley Unit 1, which went into service in 1976, is licensed through 2036. Unit 2, which went into service in 1987, is licensed through 2047.
Energy Harbor also inherited from FES one unit at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, and one unit at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio. FES withdrew its retirement notices for Davis-Besse and Perry in July after Ohio lawmakers approved legislation subsidizing the plants. (See Ohio Supreme Court Dismisses FES Nuke Lawsuit.)
But FERC’s order requiring PJM to apply the minimum offer price rule to the subsidized plants may jeopardize their ability to collect capacity market revenues going forward. (See related story, PJM Makes MOPR Compliance Filing.)
Perry, which began commercial operations in 1986, is licensed through 2026 but may seek a 20-year license extension. Davis-Besse, in operation since 1977, is licensed through 2037.
FES was unable to win legislative approval for subsidies in Pennsylvania.