Pa. lawmakers seek support for nuclear bailout bill | News | witf.org

Pa. lawmakers seek support for nuclear bailout bill | News | witf.org: Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. (Joanne Cassaro/WITF) (Harrisburg) -- State lawmakers are taking the first steps toward introducing legislation aimed at bailing out Pennsylvania's nuclear power industry. On Monday, Rep. Thomas Mehaffie (R- Dauphin) and Sen. Ryan Aument (R- Lancaster) circulated co-sponsorship memos asking their colleagues to join them in supporting forthcoming legislation to amend Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS). The 2004 law requires utilities to purchase portions of their electricity from clean and alternative sources. Right now, the AEPS does not include nuclear energy. Mehaffie and Aument want to change that. They're concerned because two of Pennsylvania's five nuclear plants are soon set to close prematurely. In 2017, Exelon said it would shutter its Three Mile Island plant near Harrisburg this fall. The following year, FirstEnergy announced it would retire its Beaver Valley plant ahead of schedule, in 2021. The early closures are part of a...