OREANDA-NEWS. April 07, 2017. Connecticut's nuclear power plant is financially viable on its own and does not need help from state lawmakers, according to a group of electric power producers.

Connecticut does not need to follow the path of other states and provide support to Dominion Energy's 2,100MW Millstone Nuclear Power Plant because it has been very profitable in recent years, according to a report released by the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA).

The report says Millstone earned an estimated $150mn in after-tax revenue in 2016 and that the facility will earn around $60mn in after-tax income this year, with an average of $75mn/yr from 2018-21.

"There is no reason to anticipate that Millstone will face financial challenges or be at risk of retirement within the next five years or in the longer term," said Tanya Bodell, executive director of Energyzt Advisors, the consulting firm that authored the study.

State lawmakers are considering supporting the plant with a policy similar to ones in New York and Illinois that require utilities to purchase zero-emissions credits (ZECs) from struggling nuclear generators. In this case, the payments would go to a single facility, the Millstone Nuclear Power Station, which accounts for about half of Connecticut's in-state power generation.

Dominion called the Energyzt report "full of gross assumptions and preposterous claims," and said its nuclear plant is experiencing economic challenges that are making it difficult to compete in the power market. "We feel the exact same pressures" as other northeast nuclear plants that have closed in recent years, the company said.

While it has not announced the Millstone plant's closure, Dominion said it is a "possibility" that the facility would have to close without support from the state government.