After weathering years of anti-nuclear protests, the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon, VT, is being shuttered. However, the nail sealing its coffin is cheap natural gas from shale plays; the controversial plant is just uneconomic. It’s not the first nuke to go and won’t be the last as markets open to more gas-fired generation.

“This was an agonizing decision and an extremely tough call for us,” said Entergy Corp. CEO Leo Denault. The company said the decision to close Vermont Yankee in 2014 was based on a number of financial factors, including that natural gas markets have undergone a transformational shift in supply due to the impacts of shale gas, resulting in sustained low natural gas prices and wholesale energy prices.

“This was an agonizing decision and an extremely tough call for us,” said Entergy Corp. CEO Leo Denault. The company said the decision to close Vermont Yankee in 2014 was based on a number of financial factors, including that natural gas markets have undergone a transformational shift in supply due to the impacts of shale gas, resulting in sustained low natural gas prices and wholesale energy prices.