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<p>HARRISBURG (AP) &#8212; The owner of Three Mile Island, site of the United States&#8217; worst commercial nuclear power accident, said Monday that it will shut down the plant in 2019 without a financial rescue from Pennsylvania.</p><p>Exelon Corp.&#8217;s announcement comes after what it called more than five years of losses on the single-unit power plant and its recent failure in a capacity auction to sell Three Mile Island&#8217;s power into the regional grid.</p><p>In the meantime, the Chicago-based energy company wants Pennsylvania to give nuclear power the kind of preferential treatment that are given to renewable energies, such as wind and solar.</p><p>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.</p><p>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 push-back from rival energy companies, manufacturers and consumer advocates.</p><p>&#8220;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,&#8221; Exelon&#8217;s president and CEO, Chris Crane, said in a statement.</p><p>Nuclear power plants have been hammered by the natural gas boom that has slashed electricity prices in competitive markets.</p><p>Three Mile Island isn&#8217;t alone: FirstEnergy Corp. has said it could decide next year to sell or close its three nuclear plants &#8212; 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&#8217;t operate ones that are long-term money losers.</p><p>In March 1979, equipment failure and operator errors led to a partial core meltdown of one of Three Mile Island&#8217;s two reactors.</p><p>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&#8217;s financial viability.</p><p>Perhaps nuclear power&#8217;s biggest nemesis is the cheap natural gas flooding the market from the Northeast&#8217;s Marcellus Shale reservoir, the nation&#8217;s most prolific gas field. Meanwhile, electricity consumption hit a wall after the recession, while states have emphasized renewable energies and efficiency.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>&#8220;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,&#8221; Simeone said.</p><p>Pennsylvania is the nation&#8217;s No. 2 nuclear power state after Illinois.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A Monday, May 22, 2017 file photo shows cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pa. Exelon Corp., the owner of Three Mile Island, site of the United States' worst commercial nuclear power accident, said Monday, May 29, 2017 it will shut down the plant in 2019 without a financial rescue from Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_116838619-c1ef949cfc444fcf878d0c7b873e15c0-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A Monday, May 22, 2017 file photo shows cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pa. Exelon Corp., the owner of Three Mile Island, site of the United States' worst commercial nuclear power accident, said Monday, May 29, 2017 it will shut down the plant in 2019 without a financial rescue from Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_116838619-51ba50e429fd4ab2b1420f009a8f7b0f-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">FILE - This March 30, 1979, file photo shows an aerial view of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pa. Exelon Corp., the owner of Three Mile Island, site of the United States' worst commercial nuclear power accident, said Monday, May 29, 2017 it will shut down the plant in 2019 without a financial rescue from Pennsylvania.   (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_116838619-51ba50e429fd4ab2b1420f009a8f7b0f-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>FILE - This March 30, 1979, file photo shows an aerial view of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pa. Exelon Corp., the owner of Three Mile Island, site of the United States' worst commercial nuclear power accident, said Monday, May 29, 2017 it will shut down the plant in 2019 without a financial rescue from Pennsylvania.   (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_116838619-426bb1fc157b40499d5016220addfecf-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">FILE - In this undated file photo, a Pennsylvania state police officer and plant security guards stand outside the closed front gate to the Metropolitan Edison nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pa., after the plant was shut down following a partial meltdown on March 28, 1979. Exelon Corp., the owner of Three Mile Island, said Monday, May 29, 2017 it will shut down the plant in 2019 without a financial rescue from Pennsylvania.  (AP Photo/Paul Vathis, File)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_116838619-426bb1fc157b40499d5016220addfecf-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>FILE - In this undated file photo, a Pennsylvania state police officer and plant security guards stand outside the closed front gate to the Metropolitan Edison nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pa., after the plant was shut down following a partial meltdown on March 28, 1979. Exelon Corp., the owner of Three Mile Island, said Monday, May 29, 2017 it will shut down the plant in 2019 without a financial rescue from Pennsylvania.  (AP Photo/Paul Vathis, File)</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Marc Levy</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>HARRISBURG &#8212; State Senators John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, and Ryan Aument (R-36), along with state Reps. Becky Corbin (R-155) and Rob Matzie (D-16) &#8212; who co-chair the General Assembly&#8217;s Nuclear Energy Caucus &#8212; issued a statement on the possible closure of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station.</p><p>&#8220;Today&#8217;s announcement confirms what we have suspected for many months &#8212; that there are serious and consequential underlying issues in Pennsylvania&#8217;s energy sector that must be addressed.</p><p>&#8220;The premature closure of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station will mean a significant loss of family-sustaining jobs, high capacity base-load clean energy, and the many direct and indirect economic benefits that surround the production of electricity from a nuclear power plant.</p><p>&#8220;As state lawmakers, we take seriously our obligation to set energy policies that help promote Pennsylvania&#8217;s economy. We equally are concerned about meeting the Commonwealth&#8217;s environmental goals.</p><p>&#8220;The closure of Three Mile Island will make meeting these challenges even more difficult.</p><p>&#8220;One of our top priorities in creating the Nuclear Energy Caucus was to focus on the value that each energy resource offers Pennsylvania and our citizens. We remain committed to that goal and will continue to invite all members of the General Assembly to participate in this important discussion so that together, we can advance policies that promote long-term economic, environmental and consumer benefits.</p><p>&#8220;Today, however, we are mindful of how difficult this news is for the many workers and their families who are effected, as well as the communities in central Pennsylvania that will be directly impacted.&#8221;</p></factboxMeta></div>

Without state help, Three Mile Island plant to shut down in 2019