Entergy Services, Inc.

440 Hamilton Avenue

White Plains, NY 10601
T. Michael Twomey
Vice President, External Affairs - Wholesale

December 2, 2015

BY HAND DELIVERY
Chairman Audrey Zibelman
New York State Public Service Commission
Empire State Plaza
Agency Building 3
Albany, NY 12223-1350
Re: Potential Transition Plan for Upstate Nuclear Plants
Dear Chairman Zibelman:
Thank you again for participating in the conference call with members of our team yesterday. We
appreciate your acknowledgement of the ongoing and significant financial challenges facing the James A.
FitzPatrick nuclear facility in Oswego County, which we have discussed with you and your staff several
times over the last few years. We recognize the meaningful policy shift that New York is apparently now
considering with respect to a potential transition plan that may provide some revenue support for upstate
nuclear plants. As you know, Entergy has advocated for years that policy makers should recognize and value
the positive economic, environmental, and grid reliability attributes that nuclear plants provide.
We also appreciate the clarity you provided concerning the timing of a potential transition plan i.e.,
a white paper issued by NYSPSC Staff in January 2016, coincident with the initiation of a NYSPSC
proceeding, with a target of mid-2016 for completion of the proceeding (which could then be subject to
various appeals, challenges, etc.). This expected timeline, while perhaps accelerated compared to typical
NYSPSC proceedings, effectively means that we will not know until mid-2016, at the earliest, what level of
revenue support, if any, might be provided to the FitzPatrick facility, how a potential transition program
might be implemented, or what terms and conditions might apply, among other details.
The FitzPatrick retirement decision, while amply justified by the plants challenging financial
circumstances, was nevertheless a difficult one for us, particularly in light of the obvious negative
consequences for our employees and other stakeholders in the Oswego-area community. Moreover, the
prolonged (and ultimately unsuccessful) negotiations with the State created uncertainty among those groups
regarding the finality of the decision. We encourage the NYSPSC to continue its work on a revenue support
mechanism such as a clean energy standard for all nuclear facilities in New York. Unfortunately, however,
due to the significant uncertainty with respect to the details of any potential revenue support mechanism and
the expected timeline for final action by the NYSPSC (including potential appeals or other challenges to such
final action), there is no realistic chance that such a program could affect our previously-announced decision
to retire the FitzPatrick facility at the end of 2016 or early 2017 given its ongoing and significant financial
challenges.

Letter to Chairman Zibelman

December 2, 2015
Page -2-

I am available to discuss this matter further with you at your convenience.

cc: William M. Mohl