Exelon Generation to close Byron plant in fall 2021

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Exelon Generation announced today that it intends to retire its Byron Generating Station and Dresden Generating Station in fall 2021, resulting in the loss of four nuclear generation units that together supply clean, zero-emissions energy to more than four million homes and businesses in northern Illinois. Byron, located just outside Byron, Ill., will close in September 2021, and Dresden, located in Morris, Ill., will close in November 2021.

The Byron plant was licensed to operate for at least another 20 years before this announcement. Exelon said in a statement that both plants face revenue shortfalls of hundreds of millions of dollars, due to dropping energy prices. Exelon also warns that the LaSalle and Braidwood nuclear stations in Illinois are also at high risk for premature closure.

“Although we know in our heads that shutting down the uneconomic Illinois plants is necessary to preserve even more jobs elsewhere, our hearts ache today for the thousands of talented women and men that have served Illinois families for more than a generation and will lose their jobs because of poorly conceived energy policies,” said Christopher Crane, president and CEO of Exelon. “But we are only about a year away from shutdown and we need to give our people, the host communities, and regulators time to prepare.”

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