Duke Announces CR3 Plant to Close

This morning we received the news that many in Citrus County have worried and dreaded, Duke Energy announced that CR3 (known commonly as the Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant) is to close permanently.

In a press release Duke Energy stated, “Following a comprehensive analysis, Progress Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, announced today that it will retire the Crystal River Nuclear Plant (CR3) in Citrus County, Fla.” (Click here to read the full press release)

The press release went on to say, “The energy complex’s four coal plants remain in service in Citrus County.”  Duke went on to say, “The coal-fired units and employees are not affected by today’s announcement.” Duke however explained that, “the company expects to retire the two older coal-fired plants (units 1 and 2) in the coming years – most likely in the 2015-2018 time frame – due to changing federal regulations, but there is no specific retirement plan for the units today.”

The press release explained that approximately 600 full-time employees work at the Nuclear Plant.   Duke said that many will remain onsite to work through the closing and decommissioning of the unit.

As to the future of Crystal River and Citrus County Duke said, “the company is evaluating the potential to build a new, state-of-the-art, natural gas-fueled power plant, which could come online as early as 2018. There is no definitive plan for new generating capacity at this time.”  Duke further said, “The company has invested more than $1 billion in recent years in adding advanced emission controls on the newer coal-fired plants (Crystal River units 4 and 5) and plans to continue to operate those units for many years to meet customer electricity demands.”

Comments Off on Duke Announces CR3 Plant to Close
Filed under: News & Updates