The planned closure of the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant this spring will likely deal a huge blow to the economy of east central Wisconsin. That’s according to a new impact study from the Kewaunee County Economic Development Corporation, which determined the plant’s employees will lose $85.5 million in annual income.
The report says the Kewaunee are can also expect to lose almost $640 million a year, with all but $50 million of that total attributed directly to the plant shutting down.
Kewaunee’s owner, Dominion Resources, expects to close the nuclear plant by the end of May. The firm could not arrange new contracts for utilities to buy the plant’s electricity, because it got cheaper for the utilities to buy power made from lower cost natural gas.
The impact study was conducted with the help of UW economist Steve Deller. It says the plant supports over 1,100 jobs, with almost 650 of those directly at the nuclear facility in the town of Carlton.