 |
|
| [[Share On Facebook]] |
Please do not reply directly to this email, as it returns to an unmanned account.
You are welcome to contact me through this link.
|
|
TMI Restart to Power PA, Nation
|
Brighter times are now ahead, following what I consider Dauphin County’s darkest day in recent years – when Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 shut down Sept. 20, 2019.
Constellation Energy Corp. announced this morning it will restart Unit 1 to accommodate a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft Corp. This is fantastic news for baseload power up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and it is important for the future of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and technological innovation.
But most importantly? It’s a game-changer for our local economy.
When Three Mile Island closed, it decimated the regional workforce for those in IBEW Local 777 and other unions’ ranks. We lost hundreds of jobs. Families uprooted their lives and left our communities, creating a devastating void in the tax base and spending support of local businesses.
An economic impact study found the restart project, which is being called Crane Clean Energy Center or CCEC, will create 3,400 direct and indirect jobs. It will add more than 800 megawatts of carbon-free power to the grid, meaning we’ll have enhanced baseload power, domestically produced electricity and better diversification among energy sources.
Constellation (the nation’s largest producer of clean, carbon-free energy) has already committed an additional $1 million in philanthropic giving over the next five years.
Constellation officials told reporters the company will pay on its own to refurbish the plant, and Microsoft will buy the electricity it produces for two decades. “We’re not asking for a penny from the state or from utility customers,” President and CEO Joe Dominguez said.
I commend the two corporations on making the restart financially viable. I advocated for the project in our 2024-25 state budget negotiations, and while ultimately those incentives did not fall into place, I will continue in the future to support initiatives that support alternative energy sources and major economic development like this.
TMI Unit 2 is separately owned by Energy Solutions and remains in the process of being decommissioned.
CCEC re-uses existing infrastructure that will be restored, including the turbine, generator, main power transformer, and cooling and control systems. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be involved in the process. The CCEC is anticipated to be operational in 2028.
Recent polling indicates seven in 10 Pennsylvanians support nuclear power as a source of reliable, carbon-free energy produced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Count me among the biggest supporters of what revived nuclear production will mean for Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and the nation.
|
|
|