EAST MOLINE – Governor Rauner is "extremely upset" that Exelon says it is closing both the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear plants because Illinois lawmakers failed to act on a state-funded bailout proposal.
From Crain's -
In his first extensive public comments on the issue, Rauner called for a compromise that would preserve the downstate Clinton plant and Quad Cities station on the Mississippi River, both of which Exelon says it is closing now that lawmakers have ignored its May 31 deadline for state financial help.
“I am extremely upset about this,” Rauner said, speaking in East Moline, near the Quad Cities plant. “Here's the issue: you need to protect good-paying jobs. Exelon has good-paying jobs. I want to protect those jobs. I want to keep those jobs. I want to keep those plants open.”
But Rauner also said there are limits to what he'll accept.
“We also have got to balance that with protecting our ratepayers and taxpayers,” he said. “This is a large corporation that's asking for a bailout to keep some operations going. This is not an easy solution. I've said, let's work this out and come up with a compromise because we want to keep these plants open. We also need to protect ratepayers from a massive spike in rates.”
The comments seem to indicate that Rauner, despite his general fealty to market principles, isn't philosophically opposed to “bailing out” a profitable company when 1,500 high paying jobs are at stake.
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