Costs of Nuclear Bailouts in New York, Illinois, Connecticut & New Jersey


Form: The form of the subsidy, for instance, either as a nuclear credit 
or above-market power contract. Subsidies adopted to date are either 
priced as nuclear credits separate from the sale of electricity and other 
ancillary services; or in the form of contracts to purchase electricity 
at higher prices than prevailing market prices.
 
Price: The unit cost of subsidies, based on the amount of electricity 
generated. In the case of power contracts, the subsidy price is 
calculated as an estimate of the average difference in the subsidized 
price and average market prices.
 
Duration: Length of time for which subsidies are committed or 
authorized.
 
Reactors: The number of reactors authorized to receive subsidies 
under the program.
 
Capacity: The total amount of electricity generation capacity authorized 
to receive subsidies, measured in megawatts (MW) of capacity.
 
Generation: The average annual amount of electricity generated by 
the subsidized capacity, or the maximum amount of generation to be 
subsidized.
 
Cost/year: The average annual projected cost of the nuclear subsidy.
 
Total Cost: The total projected cost of the nuclear subsidy program, 
over the full term.
 
Costs of Other State Nuclear Bailouts
 
State
Form
Price
Duration
Reactors
Capacity
Generation
Cost/year
Total Cost
New York
Credit
$17.48-$29.15/MWh (rises every 2 yrs.)
12 yrs
(2017-2029)
4
3,351 MW
27,618,000 MWh
$483M-$804M
~$7.6 billion
Illinois
Credit
$16.50-$20.50/MWh (rises every year after yr. 7)
10 yrs
(2017-2027)
3
2,780 MW
22,900,000 MWh
$235M
(cost capped at ~$10/MWh)
$2.35 billion
New Jersey
Credit
~$10/MWh
3 yrs., up to 12 yrs.
3
3,573 MW
29,400,000 MWh
~$300M
<$3.6 billion
Connecticut
Power Contract
Unknown (price not yet finalized)
10 yrs.
3
~1,300 MW
~11 million MWh
Unknown
(est. ≤ $330M)
Unknown (est. ≤ $3.3 billion)
TOTAL
 
 
 
13
11,000 MW
81 million MWh
> $1.1 billion/yr
~$15 billion
 
 
Subsidies to New York reactors are projected to total as much as $7.6 billion over 12 years (2017-2029).
Judson, Tim. “Too Big to Bail Out: The Economic Costs of a National Nuclear Power Subsidy.”
 Nuclear Information and Resource Ser­vice.  November 2016.
 
Illinois subsidies are projected to total $2.35 billion over 10 years (2017-2027). Daniels, Steve.
 “How Exelon will keep getting bailout money in Illinois—whether it needs it or not.” Crain’s Chicago Business. August 2, 2017. 
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti­cle/20170802/NEWS11/170809972/how-exelon-will-keep-getting-bailout-money-in-illinois-whether-it-needs-it-or-not
 
Connecticut subsidies could amount to $330 million per year, in five-year contracts.
Energyzt Advisors, LLC. “Financial Assessment: Millstone Nuclear Power Plant.” April 2017.
 
New Jersey subsidies are estimated to cost consumers $300 million per year, in extendable three-year periods. 
 


 

Submitted by admin on Mon, 02/18/2019 - 13:30