Exelon rivals sue to block billions of dollars in subsidies
CHICAGO — Competitors of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday opposing legislation that provides billions of dollars in subsidies to the power giant.
The legislation approved in December provides as much as $235 million per year to Exelon to keep unprofitable nuclear plants running in Clinton and the Quad Cities. More than 4 million customers of power-distributing subsidiaries ComEd and Ameren will pay more to finance the plan.
The lawsuit filed U.S. District Court in Chicago challenges the law on constitutional grounds.
Crain’s Chicago Business reports (http://bit.ly/2lf0W6v ) the competitors, including Houston-based Dynegy, allege the subsidies undermine wholesale power markets that are the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.