An updated report issued by the Brattle Group for the Illinois AFL-CIO says the closures would cost the region thousands of jobs and millions of dollars. Pat Devaney is the treasurer for the organization.
Credit Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco
“You re talking about 1500 full-time employees got a good paying job, and also a couple thousand supplemental workers that are brought in, during maintenance, outages and refueling,” Devaney said.
In August, Exelon announced plans to close the two facilities this coming fall. It cited declining energy prices and market rules that affected profitability.
Devaney said other findings include a direct impact to regional sales and tax revenue. And, he said, should the plants close, Illinois residents and businesses can expect to pay $313 million more annually for electricity.