Massachusetts Nuclear Power Plant to Close by 2019

Entergy said, “Before considering any impairment or the decision to close the plant, Pilgrim was expected to incur annual after-tax losses on an operational basis ranging from $10 million to $30 million for 2015, 2016 and 2017”.

Entergy also blamed Pilgrim’s problems on wholesale power market design flaws that continue to suppress energy and capacity prices in the region that do not provide adequate compensation to merchant nuclear plants for the benefits they provide.

“When we look at energy policies in Massachusetts we see a proposed clean energy standard that excludes nuclear, a preference for Canadian hydro power and the subsidization of gas pipeline capacity through electric ratepayers, and put that all together… and it became clear to us that we needed to make the decision to retire Pilgrim”, Mohl said.

“The decision to close Pilgrim was incredibly hard because of the effect on our employees and the communities in which they work and live”, Entergy chief Leo Denault said in a statement. The agreement, Arrighi said, requires Entergy and the town to negotiate what sort of payments the town will receive once Pilgrim Station closes. More than 600 people are employed at the plant.

In addition, the company pointed out that it had invested hundreds of millions of dollars to improve Pilgrim’s safety, as well as its reliability and security. At that time, the company cited similar reasons to those given for the anticipated Pilgrim closure.

“They are closing because of financial constraints and that will prevent Entergy from corrective action to fix several safety violations, ” she said.

“Plymouth has absolutely been looking ahead”, he said.

Craig A. Pinkham, the acting president of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 369n said, Entergy and Massachusetts officials should search for a way to keep the plant operating and not accept its closure as an inevitable event. “New England represents an attractive market for investment due to its transparency and incentives for reliable generation”, Matt O’Connor, Carlyle managing director and co-head of Carlyle Power Partners, said in a statement.

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., also called for a greater commitment to renewable energy. “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.