Three Exelon Nuclear Plants Don't Clear Capacity Auction

By Ezequiel Minaya 

Exelon Corp. said Monday that its Oyster Creek, Quad Cities and Three Mile Island nuclear power plants didn't clear in the PJM capacity auction for the 2018-19 planning year.

The nuclear plants won't receive capacity revenue from this auction, held annually by grid operator PJM to ensure enough power-generation resources are available to meet demand in its region covering all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Shares of Exelon were down 2.9% to $32.03 in premarket trading.

Although this annual revenue is a key factor in assessing a plant's long-term health, it is just one of several considerations Exelon said it will use to make decisions about future operations.

"We will consider auction results, along with other data points, including EPA's Clean Power Plan, as we make decisions about the future of these critical long-life assets," Exelon Chief Executive Chris Crane said in a news release.

This auction was the first held under new "capacity performance" reforms designed to spur investment in power plants that will improve their performance and strengthen electric-grid reliability.

At the auction, power producers bid for long-term contracts to supply electricity. Other businesses, including big consumers, offer to pay for improvements in efficiency or even to cut grid power. PJM chooses the best values and guarantees the winners get paid starting in 2018 even if demand drops.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 24, 2015 08:56 ET (12:56 GMT)

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