Report: Losing FirstEnergy's Nuclear Fleet Would Wipe Out Two Decades of Solar and Wind Progress | Greentech Media

Report: Losing FirstEnergy's Nuclear Fleet Would Wipe Out Two Decades of Solar and Wind Progress | Greentech Media: FirstEnergy’s plans to shut down nuclear power plants has focused the attention of clean energy boosters on environmental impacts. FirstEnergy's three nuclear plants under threat generate more zero-carbon power than all of the mid-Atlantic region’s wind and solar power put together.

On Monday, research firm Brattle Group released its own analysis in the wake of FirstEnergy’s planned nuclear closures, underscoring a worrisome combination of environmental and economic costs.

The four plants now provide more zero-carbon energy than all of PJM's wind and solar energy combined, making them an integral part of the region's clean energy mix. If the plants close, the increase in carbon emissions could raise social costs of about $921 million per year over a 10-year period, based on a federal measure of carbon pollution. Adding in other fossil fuel generation pollutants and their associated societal costs increases that amount by $170 million per year, bringing total societal costs to more than $1 billion.