43-Year-Old Pilgrim Nuclear Plant In Plymouth To Close By 2019

Entergy Corporation of New Orleans, Louisiana, said it will close Pilgrim no later than June 1, 2019. We continued to sound those warnings when Entergy prematurely retired the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant a year ago. Most pointedly, the company pointed to low current and forecast wholesale energy prices brought about by record low natural gas prices, driven by shale gas production.

The announcement increased the anxiety in Oswego County, where Entergy has said it will decide by the end of this month whether to close the FitzPatrick plant in Scriba.

“Market conditions and increased costs led us to reluctantly conclude that we had no option other than to shut down the plant”, Leo Denault, Entergy’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a press release.

The exact timing of the Pilgrim shutdown depends on several factors and will be decided in the first half of 2016, Entergy said. It is all the more unfortunate that, even though Pilgrim is among the largest if not the largest carbon-free power generator in Massachusetts, this important attribute is not valued by the state.

Entergy cites poor market conditions, reduced revenues and increased operational costs in its decision.

According to The Boston Globe, Pilgrim provides roughly 12.5 percent of the electricity in Massachusetts.

During the past few year, Pilgrim has experienced numerous emergency shutdowns and equipment failures. In addition, the Pilgrim facility faced the likelihood of costly safety-related improvements because of heightened oversight from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Entergy said it now doesn’t anticipate additional funding.

Bill Mohl, president of Entergy Wholesale Commodities, said Tuesday that the plant is expected to spend $45 million to $60 million under the enhanced oversight of the plant. “Additionally, the retirement of aging generation in the region is putting a greater emphasis on efficient gas-fired generators, like RISEC, to meet everyday electricity demand”.

The utility added that “unfavourable state energy proposals that subsidize renewable energy resources at the expense of Pilgrim and other plants” have also impacted on the plant’s economic performance. “The time is now in New England and around the nation to rapidly transition towards the safe, affordable clean energy of wind, solar and geothermal power, ” he said.