By William Opalka

Entergy and Exelon filed a petition with New York regulators Monday seeking approval of Exelon’s $110 million purchase of the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear plant (16-E-0472).

The companies asked the Public Service Commission to approve the acquisition by Nov. 18. The PSC has a regularly scheduled meeting on Nov. 17.

“Prompt approval is warranted here because … the transfer does not raise any issues regarding retail energy sales to captive ratepayers, it does not raise any market power concerns in the competitive wholesale markets in New York or the adjoining regions and it is consistent with commission precedent,” the companies said.

The petition says an “investment decision” on refueling the plant must be made soon, as FitzPatrick’s current fuel cycle is expected to end about Jan. 31, 2017.

Entergy said last year it would close the money-losing plant in early 2017. Exelon agreed to purchase the generator after the PSC adopted a subsidy for the no-carbon emission attributes of nuclear power. (See Entergy Sells FitzPatrick to Exelon.)

FitzPatrick, which produces an average 7 million MWh annually, is licensed to operate through 2034.

If approved, Exelon would own all of the upstate nuclear fleet in New York: FitzPatrick, R.E. Ginna and Nine Mile Point 1 and 2. They total 2,267 MW, or 5.9% of the generating capacity in NYISO, according to the companies.

Entergy would still own the only other nuclear plant in the state, Indian Point in the Lower Hudson Valley.

Concern over Subsidy Payments

In a separate filing Monday, Exelon asked the PSC to guarantee subsidy payments for Ginna and Nine Mile Point in the event that its purchase of FitzPatrick plant falls through (15-E-0302).

The company said language in the Clean Energy Standard adopted Aug. 1 by the commission could be interpreted to end the subsidy in March 2019 if not clarified. The order directed the purchase of zero-emission credits (ZEC) in six two-year tranches from 2017 to 2029. (See New York Adopts Clean Energy Standard, Nuclear Subsidy.)

The CES anticipated the FitzPatrick sale after negotiations between Exelon and Entergy were announced in mid-July.

“The FitzPatrick purchase condition [of the CES order] is unclear as to whether the 12-year duration of the R.E. Ginna facility’s, the Nine Mile Point facility’s and the FitzPatrick facility’s respective ZEC contracts are conditioned on the sale of the FitzPatrick facility by Sept. 1, 2018, or whether the 12-year duration language applies only to the FitzPatrick facility’s ZEC contract,” the petition states.

The petition says there is ambiguity in the order and its Appendix E, which states: “If the sale and closing does not occur, there will be no commitment for the program to continue beyond Tranche 1 and the commission will have six months before the otherwise planned commencement of Tranche 2 to determine a future course of action, if any.”

Exelon is asking for specific language to limit the two years of ZEC payments only to FitzPatrick if the sale is not completed.

It asks for a clarification or limited rehearing order by Nov. 18, the same date it has requested for approval of the sale.