Nuke

The amount of electric power generated from existing nuclear plants is likely to increase in the coming years as a result of higher capacity factors and plant uprates, according to Corbin McNeill Jr., co-CEO of Exelon Corp. But the executive also believes that there are a whole host of antiquated legislative and regulatory requirements currently facing the nuclear power industry that need to be overhauled, given the likelihood that future nuclear plants will be operating in a deregulated environment.

Gas prices shot to $5/MMBtu last Monday at the SouthernCalifornia border and PG&E Citygate, and hourly intra-daypeaking prices on the California Power Exchange spiked to $863/MWh.Day-ahead peaking power prices got as high as $470.

In the midst of a Stage Two emergency alert by the state gridoperator, California generating plants used every cubic foot ofnatural gas they could squeeze through the state’s pipeline systemto keep the air conditioners humming in response to a statewideheat wave throughout the inland valleys and deserts. The secondstage alert, enacted less than two hours after a Stage One had beencalled, required major utilities to seek voluntary curtailmentsamong some of their largest power users.

Entergy Nuclear grew its nuclear fleet with the first U.S.competitive bid purchase of a nuclear plant. Entergy bought PilgrimStation, a 670-megawatt reactor in Plymouth, MA, from Boston Edisonfor $81 million. The deal closed less than eight months after thecompanies agreed to transfer ownership.

All-around price increases Wednesday received support fromcontrasting weather conditions and rising power generation load(plus a tiny assist from a barely higher screen). Most upticks werein the neighborhood of 4-8 cents, although smaller ones were aslittle as two cents at the PG&E citygate.

The 580 MW Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co. nuclear projectin Haddam, CT, may be converted to burn natural gas on or before itis decommissioned if engineering studies now underway indicate sucha conversion is feasible.