https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/business/article_abc954fe-6078-11e9-b22e-872e7a8e786a.html
Entergy to sell Indian Point nuclear power plants in N.Y. as it exits merchant power market
Entergy Corp. said it is selling its three nuclear plants at the Indian Point, New York, site to a decommissioning company.
New Orleans-based Entergy said it agreed to sell the plants to Holtec, of Camden, New Jersey, which specializes in decommissioning. It already agreed last August to sell Holtec its nuclear plants in Pilgrim, Massachusetts, and Palisades, Michigan.
The nuclear plant sales are part of a broader plan under Entergy chief executive Leo Denault to exit unprofitable merchant power generation and concentrate on the company's regulated "pure play" utility business. Merchant plants sell power on the open market to the highest bidder and were popular in the 1990s when companies rushed to fill a national power generation gap caused by volatile electricity prices and utilities' reluctance to invest in new power plants at the time.
Other Entergy sales have included the FitzPatrick plant on New York's Lake Ontario coast to Excelon for $110 million two years ago, and in January the Vermont Yankee plant to Northstar, which like Holtec specializes in dismantling nuclear plants.
In February, Entergy reported earnings of nearly $850 million, which it said would have been $500 million higher if it hadn't had to realize a loss on the sale of its power plant assets. The previous year, the impairment charge in its power plant division was nearly $890 million.
"The sale of Indian Point to Holtec is expected to result in the completion of decommissioning decades sooner than if the site were to remain under Entergy's ownership," Denault said in a statement Tuesday.
Under the terms of the deal, the sale will be complete when the last of the three units is shut down. Entergy and Holtec are targeting the third quarter of 2021 for completion.
It's not yet clear what loss Entergy will take for Indian Point, but under the terms of the sale, Entergy said it will get only a "nominal" amount of cash, while it put its net investment in Indian Point at the end of last year at $265 million.
Also, it is unclear how the $1.85 billion Entergy has had to set aside to cover its liability for the Indian Point site will be divided between Entergy, Holtec and SNC Lavalin, the Canadian firm that will execute the decommissioning with Holtec.
The company said the ultimate loss it records from the sale of Indian Point will depend on the value of those trusts and other operating, tax and financial obligations that arise while they are shut down.