Constellation’s Nuclear Fleet Outperformed as Fossil Plants in Nation’s Largest Grid Failed During Winter Storm Emergency

Nuclear plants operated by Constellation (Nasdaq: CEG) performed at 100 percent capacity and proved instrumental in preventing rolling blackouts for millions of homes and businesses during a powerful winter storm that knocked nearly a quarter of the power generation in the nation’s largest energy grid offline on Christmas Eve. PJM, the grid operator for 13 states and the District of Columbia, said generators that failed to perform during Winter Storm Elliott face penalties totaling as much as $2 billion, a record amount that raises questions about whether generators are taking sufficient steps to make their resources reliable in a changing climate. PJM began notifying generators of their potential penalties this past week.

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Nuclear plants operated by Constellation performed at 100 percent capacity and proved instrumental in preventing rolling blackouts for millions of homes and businesses during a powerful winter storm that knocked nearly a quarter of the power generation in the nation’s largest energy grid offline on Christmas Eve. (Photo: Business Wire)

The grid operator reported that 90 percent of the outages were among fossil power plants, which experienced equipment failures and fuel shortages during Winter Storm Elliott. PJM issued conservation alerts and exhausted its available emergency procedures, coming perilously close to resorting to rolling brownouts and blackouts to keep the grid up.

The storm was the first major test of the capacity performance policies implemented by PJM starting in 2016 in response to the Polar Vortex, which similarly caused 22 percent of PJM’s generation to go offline in 2014. Since that time, PJM customers have paid generators approximately $58 billion in capacity performance payments intended to spur generators to invest in reliability measures to prevent outages during extreme weather events. Despite those payments, the grid experienced an even greater level of outages during Elliott. The policy includes stiff penalties for generators that fail to perform when needed and bonuses for those that overperform, as Constellation’s fleet has throughout this winter season.