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Owner Says Three Mile Island Plant To Shut Down In 2019

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS/AP) — Exelon has announced plans to close the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Harrisburg.

Three Mile Island is allowed to remain open until 2034, but after operating at a loss for five straight years,  the owner of the nuclear plant has announced it will close the plant in 2019, unless, says company spokesman Dave Marcheski, it gets some financial help from the Pennsylvania legislature.

"One of the options we're looking at is the Alternative Energy Standard here in Pennsylvania," said Marcheski. "Currently, Pennsylvanians pay for 16 different sources of clean energy, and, by far, nuclear power is the largest provider of clean energy, zero carbon emissions. About 30 percent of the states energy comes from nuclear power and we're not part of that plan."

The plant has been hit hard by the natural gas industry. On top that it has been unable to sell its electricity to the regional grid.

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Exelon and other nuclear power plant owners have made the pitch to states that zero-carbon nuclear plants are better suited than natural gas or coal to fight climate change.

So-called nuclear bailouts have thus far won approval in Illinois and New York, but the potential for higher utility bills in Pennsylvania is drawing pushback from rival energy companies, manufacturers and consumer advocates.

"Like New York and Illinois before it, the commonwealth has an opportunity to take a leadership role by implementing a policy solution to preserve its nuclear energy facilities and the clean, reliable energy and good-paying jobs they provide," Exelon's president and CEO, Chris Crane, said in a statement.

Nuclear power plants have been hammered by the natural gas boom that has slashed electricity prices in competitive markets.

Three Mile Island isn't alone: FirstEnergy Corp. has said it could decide next year to sell or close its three nuclear plants — Davis-Besse and Perry in Ohio and Beaver Valley in Pennsylvania. PSEG of New Jersey owns all or parts of four nuclear plants, but it has said it won't operate ones that are long-term money losers.

In March 1979, equipment failure and operator errors led to a partial core meltdown of one of Three Mile Island's two reactors.

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The damaged reactor has been mothballed since, but the other reactor is still in use. Exelon said that its operating costs for just one unit at the plant are high, further damaging Three Mile Island's financial viability.

Perhaps nuclear power's biggest nemesis is the cheap natural gas flooding the market from the Northeast's Marcellus Shale reservoir, the nation's most prolific gas field. Meanwhile, electricity consumption hit a wall after the recession, while states have emphasized renewable energies and efficiency.

With the rapid growth of natural gas power in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, closing Three Mile Island would have little or no impact on electricity bills, analysts say. But it may be replaced by carbon-emitting power sources such as coal or natural gas.

Christina Simeone, of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, said the mid-Atlantic grid operator, PJM, and the U.S. Department of Energy have taken first steps toward policies or recommendations that could help nuclear power plants.

"I definitely think they are responding to some profound changes in the market as a result of very low prices for natural gas and hyper-competitive natural gas resources," Simeone said.

Pennsylvania is the nation's No. 2 nuclear power state after Illinois.

The plant employs more than 670 people. It was the site of the country's worst nuclear power accident in 1979 when one of its two reactors sustained a partial meltdown.

KYW Newsradio's Paul Kurtz contributed to the story.

(TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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