KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. — Exelon Generation today announced the retirement of nine small electric generation facilities by June 2020, due to economic challenges.
“This is a tough, but necessary decision to better position our fleet for the future, given this prolonged period of flat electricity demand and historically low electricity prices,” said Exelon Power President John Barnes. “We appreciate the professionalism of our employees who continue to safely operate these facilities, as well as the support of the local communities where these plants are located, and we will continue to openly communicate with them throughout this transition.”
The nine facilities, some of which rarely operate, include four natural gas-fired peaking generation facilities (Southeast Chicago Energy Project in Illinois, and Gould Street, Notch Cliff, and Westport generating stations in Maryland), one oil-fired peaking generation facility in Maryland (Riverside), along with four landfill gas generation facilities (Fairless Hills, Pennsbury, and Bethlehem in Pennsylvania and Eastern Maryland).
Together, these sites have a total generation capacity of about 700 megawatts. Several of these facilities and sites will be marketed for sale.
The facilities’ retirements will impact about 40 full-time positions, which the company expects to manage through in-company position transfers, anticipated attrition and its separation process, if needed.
Exelon Generation could change the retirement timeline for one or more of these facilities once PJM has assessed reliability impacts.
