Commonwealth Edison sold two of its coal-fired power plants to two separate U.S. power companies for a combined $250 million in an agreement approved Monday by the state’s utility regulatory commission.
However, Edison will continue to use the power generated from the two plants to serve customers, said company officials.
“We’re selling the plants because we believe we will achieve lower costs of operation, and we can pass those savings on to customers,” said Robert Berdelle, Edison’s manager of financial reporting.
But the Citizens Utility Board, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the City of Chicago all oppose the sale, saying it may benefit stockholders, but not consumers.
“If Edison is allowed to sell these plants, which customers have been paying for for 30 years, the customers deserve to derive some benefit from that sale. We see no benefit, only potential harm,” said CUB executive director Martin Cohen.
Edison will pay the new owners a fixed fee to guarantee exclusive rights to the energy produced by the plants for the next 15 years–even though it may not need the electricity produced. Berdelle, however, says Edison will need the power.
The Illinois Commerce Commission, by a 4-1 vote, approved the agreement, which has been in the works for nearly two years.
Southern Energy Inc., a unit of Atlanta’s Southern Co., purchased the State Line Generating Station in Hammond, Ind., for approximately $64 million.
The Dominion Energy Inc., headquartered in Richmond, Va., bought the Kincaid Generating Station in Kincaid, Ill., for approximately $186 million.
Riley Vercher Jr., president of Local 12502 of the United Steelworkers union said the combined 300 employees at both plants had to take 30 to 50 percent pay cuts to stay with Edison.
