Constellation’s Nuclear Fleet Outperformed as Fossil Plants in Nation’s Largest Grid Failed During Winter Storm Emergency - Seite 2

“While we’re proud of our performance this winter, these unacceptable grid-wide failures are clear evidence that PJM still has work to do to keep the grid clean and reliable as climate risks increase,” said Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation. “Electricity markets severely undervalue the unmatched reliability and carbon-free benefits of nuclear energy, and in recent years that shortcoming nearly led to the premature retirement of more than a dozen reactors in the PJM region. If state lawmakers had not stepped in to preserve those plants, millions of families could have been forced to celebrate the holidays in a deep freeze without electricity and heat.”

Constellation operates eight nuclear plants with 16 reactors in the PJM region, generating carbon-free power for the equivalent of more than 11.6 million average homes. All 16 reactors ran at 100 percent power as temperatures fell during Winter Storm Elliott. These plants also were among the most reliable energy resources on the grid throughout 2022.

Combined, the Constellation plants that were preserved in the PJM region produce nearly 16,000 megawatts of energy. By comparison, PJM came within about 5,000 megawatts of experiencing rolling blackouts on Christmas Eve in a grid with a load of 160,000 megawatts, leaving a margin of just 3 percent.

“Bipartisan state policies, as well as the recently passed federal Inflation Reduction Act, exist because lawmakers recognized the importance of nuclear energy to protecting our nation’s energy security and addressing the climate crisis at the lowest cost to consumers,” Dominguez said. “While PJM’s capacity performance policy was a good start, it shouldn’t still fall to state and federal environmental laws to make up for electricity markets that don’t deliver reliable results for customers. We need to keep that in sight as we consider solutions to prevent another crisis like we just experienced over the holidays.”

About Constellation

Headquartered in Baltimore, Constellation Energy Corporation (Nasdaq: CEG) is the nation’s largest producer of clean, carbon-free energy and a leading supplier of energy products and services to businesses, homes, community aggregations and public sector customers across the continental United States, including three fourths of Fortune 100 companies. With annual output that is nearly 90 percent carbon-free, our hydro, wind and solar facilities paired with the nation’s largest nuclear fleet have the generating capacity to power the equivalent of 15 million homes. We are further accelerating the nation’s transition to a carbon-free future by helping our customers reach their sustainability goals, setting our own ambitious goal of achieving 100 percent carbon-free generation by 2040, and by investing in promising emerging technologies to eliminate carbon emissions across all sectors of the economy. Follow Constellation on LinkedIn and Twitter.