“I have absolute empathy for every employee and their family at these two plants today. But, I am not giving up on the fight to protect these local jobs and our downstate economy from huge rate increases. If you read into Exelon’s statement, the General Assembly’s overtime session may actually be helpful in this case (and only in this case), as it will allow more time for the negotiations to continue on legislation that could give these plants a chance to stay open. In fact, amendments to the legislation were still being filed as recently as last weekend.
“What is unhelpful is knee-jerk reactions from politicians like Attorney General Lisa Madigan who chose to grandstand on the issue rather than engage in a constructive dialogue to protect ratepayers. What exactly does Attorney General Madigan think will happen to consumers when downstate loses 20 percent of the baseload capacity on the grid? To lose that volume will mean major rate hikes for all of downstate Illinois. Analysists have said that prices could rise from the current $72/MW to $225/MW with the closure of the Clinton plant. Attorney General Madigan needs to start thinking about the future of ratepayers in this state and not just about grabbing headlines.
“This is ultimately about the future of energy to downstate Illinois. The Attorney General’s comments set back our efforts to protect ratepayers while we were also doing our best to protect our local economy from losing an incredible amount of high paying, high quality jobs. With whatever time we have left, I would invite the Attorney General to join the conversation in a constructive fashion.”