By Suzanne Herel

Exelon said it will close the Clinton Power Station next summer and the Quad Cities facility the following year if Illinois legislators fail to pass a bill to shore up the money-losing nuclear plants and Quad Cities does not clear PJM’s 2019/20 capacity auction this month.

“Without adequate legislation, we no longer see a path to profitability and can no longer sustain ongoing losses,” CEO Christopher Crane said on Friday’s first-quarter earnings call with analysts.

Together, the plants have lost $800 million in cash flow from 2009 to 2015, he said.

“For reasons outside of our control, we have not seen progress in Illinois policy reform,” Crane said. “In order to reverse course, we would need Illinois to cover our cash costs and operating risk.”

The Clinton plant would be shuttered June 1, 2017, and the Quad Cities station would cease operations one year later.

The closures would represent the loss of $1.2 billion in economic activity and 4,200 in direct and indirect jobs, Crane said. Together, the plants employ 1,500 workers.

The company last year deferred a decision on closing the generators pending the outcome of MISO’s 2016/17 Planning Resource Auction, held last month, and PJM’s Base Residual Auction, the results of which will be known May 24. Last year, for the second year in a row, the 1,819-MW Quad Cities plant did not clear the PJM auction. (See Reactor to Participate in 2016 Auction.)

While the 1,065-MW Clinton plant won contracts in the MISO auction, its clearing price is “insufficient to cover cash operating costs,” Crane said Friday, noting that power prices have fallen to a 15-year low.

“We are not covering our operating costs or our risk, let alone receiving a return on our investment capital,” he said.

Exelon last year backed legislation that would have ensured continued operation of its ailing nuclear power plants with a $300 million annual charge paid by Commonwealth Edison and Ameren customers.

Under the Low Carbon Portfolio Standard (SB1585, HB3293), 70% of the electricity delivered by ComEd, an Exelon subsidiary, and Ameren would have to be generated by “clean energy” sources, including nuclear. (See Exelon-Backed Bill Proposes Surcharge to Fund Illinois Nukes.)

Illinois legislators, however, declined to act on the bill, or on other energy legislation put forward by ComEd, Exelon or the Clean Jobs Coalition, environmental and consumer advocates who sought to boost energy efficiency and wind and solar power.

On Thursday, Exelon and ComEd announced they would be supporting new legislation, the Next Generation Energy Plan, which Exelon said contains parts of their previous legislation and the Clean Jobs bill.

A key new element in the plan, Exelon said, is a shift to a zero-emission standard.

“The zero-emission standard addresses stakeholder concerns by requiring full review of plants’ costs by state regulators and by ensuring that only those plants that can demonstrate that revenues are insufficient to cover their costs and operating risk will be entitled to receive compensation,” the company said in a release. The model is similar to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to save New York’s struggling nuclear plants, including Exelon’s R.E. Ginna. (See New Lifeline for FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant.)

Exelon Executive Vice President Joe Dominguez said on a call with reporters Thursday that Clinton and Quad Cities are expected to lose “well over $100 million” next year, signaling that that would be the amount of state assistance for the two plants.

The bill also would double energy efficiency programs in Illinois and provide $140 million per year in funding for solar development. The companies estimate the plan would result in a 25-cent monthly increase in the average ComEd residential customer’s bill.

Just as they were last year, legislators continue to debate the state budget, and their session ends this month.

Also Friday, Exelon announced its first quarter earnings following the $6.8 billion acquisition of Pepco Holdings Inc. (See Exelon Closes Pepco Merger Following OK from DC PSC.) Operating revenue dropped 14% to $7.57 billion. The company reported a profit of $173 million (19 cents/share), down from $693 million (80 cents/share).