Exelon Corp. received the final regulatory approval necessary to complete its planned separation after the New York Public Service Commission gave the green light Dec. 16 to a settlement transferring its upstate nuclear plants to a new company.
Unanimous approval of the settlement clears the way for Exelon to close in the first quarter of 2022 a transaction to split into a transmission and distribution utility and a competitive retail and generation business (Case No. 21-E-0130). Under the settlement, the two-unit, 1,918-MW Nine Mile Point plant and the 842-MW James A. FitzPatrick plant, both in Oswego County, and the 579-MW R.E. Ginna plant in Wayne County, will be transferred into the new company, consisting primarily of the assets currently within competitive generation subsidiary Exelon Generation Co. LLC and retail business Constellation Energy Resources LLC.
The settlement was reached among Exelon, the staff of the New York State Department of Public Service, the Office of the New York State Attorney General, the Alliance for a Green Economy and the Long Island Power Authority.
Provisions of the settlement include depositing an additional $15 million in the remedial trust fund for Nine Mile unit 2; maintaining a minimum trust fund balance of $576 million across the four units; providing a 20-year projected backstop timeline for decommissioning after the end of a reactor's licensed term; acknowledging New York's tighter cleanup standard for residual radiation; and providing an 18-month advance notice of shutdown, compared with the 12-month standard of the New York ISO.
"This final regulatory approval is an important milestone on our path to separating into two world-class energy companies," Chris Crane, president and CEO of Exelon said in a statement. Closing of the transaction remains subject to Exelon's board of directors giving final approval and the SEC declaring effective a Form 10 registration statement.
"The joint proposal approved today fairly resolves all issues presented in this proceeding and includes financial assurance, oversight, and reporting provisions that will protect the public's interest in ensuring that New York's fleet of nuclear plants is owned, operated and eventually decommissioned," New York PSC Chair Rory Christian said in a news release.