Item 1. General
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Item 1. General
General
On February 21, 2021, the board of directors of Exelon Corporation (“Exelon”) authorized management to pursue a plan to separate its competitive generation and customer-facing energy businesses, conducted through Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (“Constellation”, formerly Exelon Generation Company, LLC) and its subsidiaries, into an independent, publicly traded company. Constellation Energy Corporation (“CEG Parent” or the “Company”), a Pennsylvania corporation and a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Exelon, was newly formed for the purpose of separation and had not engaged in any activities except in preparation for the distribution. On February 1, 2022, Exelon completed the separation by distributing all the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock, on a pro rata basis to the holders of Exelon’s common stock, with the Company holding all the interests in Constellation previously held by Exelon. As of 2002, Constellation has been an individual registrant since the registration of their public debt securities under the Securities Act. As an individual registrant, Constellation has historically filed consolidated financial statements to reflect their financial position and operating results as a stand-alone, wholly owned subsidiary of Exelon. The consolidated financial information presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2021 represents twelve months of information for Constellation.
References in this report to "we," "our," "us" and "the Company" are to Constellation and/or its subsidiaries, as apparent in the context. See Glossary for defined terms.
Our Business
We are America’s leading clean energy company, based on the production of carbon-free electricity. We are the largest supplier of clean energy and sustainable solutions to homes, businesses, governments, community aggregations and a range of wholesale customers (such as municipalities, cooperatives, and other strategics) across the continental U.S., backed by approximately 32,400 megawatts of generating capacity consisting of nuclear, wind, solar, natural gas and hydroelectric assets. We produced nearly 10% of the nation's carbon-free energy (based on generation output of electricity) based on published reports on energy delivery by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, making us an important partner to businesses and state and local governments that are setting ambitious carbon-reduction goals and seeking long-term solutions to the climate crisis. We operate in 48 states, Canada and now employ approximately 12,700 people after separation.
We are differentiated by owning the cleanest generation fleet in the country. We are committed to a clean energy future, and we believe our generation fleet is essential to helping meet clean energy targets, at both the state and national level. We are uniquely positioned through the pairing of our clean energy fleet with our customer-facing business. Our customer-facing business is one of the nation's largest competitive energy suppliers, offering innovative options along the sustainability continuum to meet customer clean energy and climate goals.
Our Operations
We operate the largest carbon-free generation fleet in the nation and are one of the largest competitive electric generation companies in the country, as measured by owned and contracted MW. Collectively, the combined fleet is nearly 90% carbon-free (based on generation output of electricity) and is the fourth largest generation portfolio in the U.S. in terms of total generation with meaningful geographic diversity.
At December 31, 2021, our generating resources consisted of the following:
| Type of Capacity | MW | ||||
| Owned generation assets(a) | |||||
| Nuclear | 20,899 | ||||
| Natural gas and oil | 8,819 | ||||
| Renewable(b) | 2,682 | ||||
| Owned generation assets | 32,400 | ||||
| Contracted generation(c) | 4,102 | ||||
| Total generating resources | 36,502 |
(a)Net generation capacity is stated at proportionate ownership share. See ITEM 2. PROPERTIES for additional information.
(b)Includes wind, hydroelectric, and solar generating assets.
(c)Electric supply procured under unit-specific agreements.
The following map illustrates the locations of our generation facilities as of December 31, 2021:
The Company's Generation Fleet Map**(a)**

Owned Assets**(b)**
Nuclear
Wind
Gas/Other
Solar
Hydro
Other Renewables
(a)Note: One symbol is included per location. Some locations may have multiple generating units. Locations in tight geographic proximity may appear as one symbol. Units that are not currently operational are not captured.
(b)Does not reflect Grand Prairie Generating Station (Gas/other), located in Alberta, Canada.
We have five reportable segments, as described in the table below, representing the different geographical areas in which our owned generating resources are located, and our customer-facing activities are conducted.
| Segment | Net Generation Capacity (MW)****(a) | % of Net Generation Capacity | Geographical Area | |||||||||||||||||
| Mid-Atlantic | 10,508 | 32 | % | Eastern half of PJM, which includes New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and parts of Pennsylvania and North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||
| Midwest | 11,898 | 37 | % | Western half of PJM and the United States footprint of MISO, excluding MISO’s Southern Region | ||||||||||||||||
| New York | 3,093 | 10 | % | NYISO | ||||||||||||||||
| ERCOT | 3,610 | 11 | % | Electric Reliability Council of Texas | ||||||||||||||||
| Other Power Regions | 3,291 | 10 | % | New England, South, West, and Canada | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | 32,400 | 100 | % |
(a)Net generation capacity is stated at proportionate ownership share as of December 31, 2021. See ITEM 2. PROPERTIES for additional information.
The following table shows sources of electric supply in GWh for 2021 and 2020:
| Source of Electric Supply | |||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||
| Nuclear(a) | 174,987 | 175,085 | |||||||||
| Purchases — non-trading portfolio | 67,605 | 79,972 | |||||||||
| Natural gas and oil | 19,960 | 19,501 | |||||||||
| Renewable(b) | 6,577 | 7,052 | |||||||||
| Total Supply | 269,129 | 281,610 |
(a)Includes the proportionate share of output where we have an undivided ownership interest in jointly-owned generating plants and includes the total output of plans that are fully consolidated.
(b)Includes wind, hydroelectric, solar, and biomass generating assets.
Nuclear Facilities
Our nuclear fleet is the nation’s largest with current generating capacity of approximately 21 gigawatts; it produced 175 terawatt hours of zero-emissions electricity during 2021 – enough to power 14.9 million homes and avoid more than 124 million metric tons of carbon emissions according to the US EPA GHG Equivalencies Calculator. We have ownership interests in 13 nuclear generating stations currently in service, consisting of 23 units. As of December 31, 2021, we wholly own all our nuclear generating stations, except for undivided ownership interests in four jointly owned nuclear stations: Quad Cities (75% ownership), Peach Bottom (50% ownership), Salem (42.59% ownership), and Nine Mile Point Unit 2 (82% ownership), which are consolidated in our financial statements relative to our proportionate ownership interest in each unit. See ITEM 2. PROPERTIES for additional information on our nuclear facilities.
On August 6, 2021, Constellation and EDF entered into a settlement agreement pursuant to which we, through a wholly owned subsidiary, purchased EDF’s equity interest in CENG, a joint venture with EDF, which wholly owns the Calvert Cliffs and Ginna nuclear stations and Nine Mile Point Unit 1, in addition to the 82% undivided ownership interest in Nine Mile Point Unit 2. Prior to August 6, 2021, we had a 50.01% membership interest in CENG, however CENG is consolidated within our results for all periods presented. See Note 2 — Mergers, Acquisitions, and Dispositions and Note 21 — Variable Interest Entities of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding the acquisition of EDF's equity interest in CENG and the CENG consolidation.
We operate all of these nuclear generating stations, except for the two units at Salem, which are operated by PSEG Nuclear, LLC (an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of PSEG), and we have consistently operated our nuclear plants at best-in-class levels. During 2021, 2020, and 2019, our nuclear generating facilities achieved capacity factors(a) of 94.5%, 95.4%, and 95.7%, respectively, at ownership percentage. More broadly, the nuclear capacity factor has been approximately four percentage points better than the industry average annually since 2013.
Capacity factors, which are significantly affected by the number and duration of refueling and non-refueling outages, can have a significant impact on our results of operations. In 2021, we achieved an average refueling outage duration of 22 days for units we operate. During 2020, and 2019, we achieved an average refueling outage duration of 22 days and 21 days against an industry average of 34 and 36 days, respectively.
We manage our scheduled refueling outages to minimize their duration and to maintain high nuclear generating capacity factors, resulting in a stable generation base for our wholesale and retail power marketing activities. In 2021, 2020, and 2019 electric supply (in GWh) generated from our nuclear generating facilities was 65%, 62%, and 64%, respectively, of our total electric supply, which also includes natural gas, oil, and renewable generation and electric supply purchased for resale. See ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS for additional information on electric supply sources.
During scheduled refueling outages, we perform maintenance and equipment upgrades in order to maintain safe, reliable operations and to minimize the occurrence of unplanned outages. In addition to the maintenance and equipment upgrades performed by us during scheduled refueling outages, we have extensive operating and security procedures in place to ensure the safe operation of our nuclear units. We also have extensive safety systems in place to protect the plant, personnel, and surrounding area in the unlikely event of an accident or other incident.
We have original 40-year operating licenses from the NRC for each of our nuclear units and have received 20-year operating license renewals from the NRC for all our nuclear units except Clinton. PSEG has received 20-year operating license renewals for Salem Units 1 and 2. Peach Bottom has received a second 20-year license renewal from the NRC, for a total 80-year term, for Units 2 and 3.
(a)Capacity factor is defined as the ratio of the actual output of a plant over a period of time to its output if the plant had operated at full average annual mean capacity for that time period. See ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS for additional information.
The following table summarizes the current license expiration dates for our nuclear facilities currently in service:
| Station | Unit | In-Service Date**(a)** | Current License Expiration | ||||||||||||||
| Braidwood | 1 | 1988 | 2046 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1988 | 2047 | |||||||||||||||
| Byron | 1 | 1985 | 2044 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1987 | 2046 | |||||||||||||||
| Calvert Cliffs | 1 | 1975 | 2034 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1977 | 2036 | |||||||||||||||
| Clinton(b) | 1 | 1987 | 2027 | ||||||||||||||
| Dresden | 2 | 1970 | 2029 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | 1971 | 2031 | |||||||||||||||
| FitzPatrick | 1 | 1975 | 2034 | ||||||||||||||
| LaSalle | 1 | 1984 | 2042 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1984 | 2043 | |||||||||||||||
| Limerick | 1 | 1986 | 2044 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1990 | 2049 | |||||||||||||||
| Nine Mile Point | 1 | 1969 | 2029 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1988 | 2046 | |||||||||||||||
| Peach Bottom | 2 | 1974 | 2053 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | 1974 | 2054 | |||||||||||||||
| Quad Cities | 1 | 1973 | 2032 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1973 | 2032 | |||||||||||||||
| Ginna | 1 | 1970 | 2029 | ||||||||||||||
| Salem | 1 | 1977 | 2036 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1981 | 2040 |
(a)Denotes year in which nuclear unit began commercial operations.
(b)Although timing has been delayed, we currently plan to seek license renewal for Clinton and have received a Timely Renewal Exemption from the NRC that allows for the license renewal application to be filed in the first quarter of 2024.
The operating license renewal process takes approximately four to five years from the commencement of the process, which includes approximately two years for us to develop the application and approximately two additional years for the NRC to review the application. Depreciation provisions are based on the estimated useful lives of the stations, which correspond with the term of the NRC operating licenses denoted in the table above as of December 31, 2021. From August 27, 2020 through September 15, 2021, Byron and Dresden depreciation provisions were accelerated to reflect the previously announced shutdown dates of September 2021 and November 2021, respectively. On September 15, 2021, we updated the estimated useful lives for both facilities to reflect the end of the current NRC operating license for each unit consistent with the table above. See Note 3 — Regulatory Matters and Note 7 — Early Plant Retirements of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on Byron and Dresden and the Illinois CMC program.
The TMI nuclear station located in Middletown, Pennsylvania, permanently ceased generation operations on September 20, 2019. The Oyster Creek nuclear station located in Forked River, New Jersey, which permanently ceased generation operations on September 17, 2018, was sold to Holtec International (Holtec) on July 1, 2019. See Note 2 — Mergers, Acquisitions, and Dispositions and Note 7 — Early Plant Retirements of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the disposition of Oyster Creek and the retirement of TMI.
Natural Gas, Oil and Renewable Facilities (including Hydroelectric)
We operate approximately 12 gigawatts of natural gas, oil, hydroelectric, wind, and solar generation assets, which provide a mix of baseload, intermediate, and peak power generation. We wholly own all our natural gas, oil and renewable generating stations, except for: (1) Wyman; (2) certain wind project entities; and (3) CRP, which is owned 49% by another owner. We operate all of these facilities, except for Wyman, which is operated by the principal owner, NextEra Energy Resources LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. See ITEM 2. PROPERTIES for additional information regarding these generating facilities and Note 21 — Variable Interest Entities of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding CRP, which is a VIE.
In 2021, 2020, and 2019, electric supply (in GWh) generated from our owned natural gas, oil, and renewable generating facilities was 10%, 9%, and 11%, respectively, of our total electric supply. Much of this output was dispatched to support our wholesale and retail power marketing activities. Our natural gas, oil and renewable fleet has similarly demonstrated a track record of strong performance with a power dispatch match(a) of 72.4%, 98.4%, and 97.9% and renewables energy capture(b) of 95.7%, 93.4%, and 96.3% in 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. Our power dispatch match performance in 2021 was significantly impacted by the February 2021 extreme weather event in Texas, refer to Note 3 — Regulatory Matters for additional information.
Natural gas, oil, wind and solar generation plants are generally not licensed, and, therefore, the decision on when to retire plants is, fundamentally, a commercial one. FERC has the exclusive authority to license most non-Federal hydropower projects located on navigable waterways or Federal lands, or connected to the interstate electric grid, which include our Conowingo Hydroelectric Project (Conowingo) and Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility Project (Muddy Run). Muddy Run's license expires on December 1, 2055 and Conowingo's on February 28, 2071. The stations are currently being depreciated over their estimated useful lives, which correspond with the available license terms. See Note 3 — Regulatory Matters of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on Conowingo.
On March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021, we completed the sale of a significant portion of our solar business and our interest in the Albany Green Energy biomass facility, respectively. Note 2 — Mergers, Acquisitions, and Dispositions for additional information on these dispositions.
(a)Dispatch Match is used to measure the responsiveness of a unit to the market, expressed as the actual energy relative to the total desired energy. Desired energy is measured by revenues less purchased power and fuel costs when unit is dispatched by us or the RTO.
(b)Energy capture is an indicator of how efficiently the installed assets capture the natural energy available from the wind and the sun. Energy capture represents an energy-based fraction, the numerator of which is the energy produced by the sum of the wind turbines/solar panels in the year, and the denominator of which is the total expected energy to be produced during the year. Energy capture for the combined wind and solar fleet is weighted by the relative site projected pre-tax variable revenue, with deductions made for certain events that are non-controllable, such as force majeure events and transmission curtailments.
Contracted Generation
In addition to energy produced by owned generation assets, we source electricity from plants we do not own under long-term contracts. The following tables summarize our long-term contracts to purchase unit-specific physical power with an original term in excess of one year in duration, by region, in effect as of December 31, 2021:
| Region | Number of Agreements | Expiration Dates | Capacity (MW) | |||||||||||||||||
| Mid-Atlantic | 7 | 2022 - 2032 | 176 | |||||||||||||||||
| Midwest | 3 | 2026 - 2032 | 351 | |||||||||||||||||
| New York | 4 | 2022 | 26 | |||||||||||||||||
| ERCOT | 5 | 2022 - 2035 | 864 | |||||||||||||||||
| Other Power Regions | 12 | 2022 - 2033 | 2,685 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 31 | 4,102 |
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Thereafter | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity Expiring (MW) | 1,084 | 114 | 101 | 490 | 398 | 1,915 | 4,102 |
Customer-Facing Business
We are one of the nation’s largest energy suppliers, through our integrated business operations we sell electricity, natural gas, and other energy related products and solutions to various types of customers, including distribution utilities, municipalities, cooperatives, and commercial, industrial, governmental, and residential customers in competitive markets across multiple geographic regions. We serve approximately 2 million total customers, including approximately 217,000 commercial, industrial, and public sector customers, including three-fourths of Fortune 100 companies, and about 1.6 million unique residential customers. We also have a non-commodity element of our customer facing business, providing sustainability, efficiency and technology solutions to offer a comprehensive suite of energy solutions to meet customers’ growing and evolving needs.
We are a leader in electric power supply, serving 205 TWhs in 2021 through sales to retail customers and wholesale load auctions to a diverse geographic customer base. The following table illustrates these volumes across our five reportable segments:
2021 Electric Power Supply (TWhs) Served Across Regions**(a****)**

(a)Includes retail load and wholesale load auction volumes only. Electric generation in excess of our total retail and wholesale load would be marketed to the respective ISO in which our facility is located. Other includes New England, South & West.
We are active in all domestic wholesale power and gas markets that span the entire lower 48 states and have complementary retail activity across many of those states. We largely obtain physical power supply from our owned and contracted generation in multiple geographic regions. The commodity risks associated with the output from owned and contracted generation are managed using various commodity transactions including sales to customers and our ratable hedging program. See further discussion of the ratable hedging program in the Price and Supply Risk Management section below. The main objective is to obtain low-cost energy supply to meet physical delivery obligations to both our wholesale and retail customers.
Wholesale Market
Our wholesale channel-to-market involves the sale of electricity among electric utilities and electricity marketers before it is eventually sold to end-use consumers. In 2021, we served approximately 65 TWhs of power load across competitive utility load procurements and bilateral sales to municipalities, co-ops, banks, and other wholesale entities. Complementary to our national portfolio, we have several decades of relationships with wholesale counterparties across all domestic power markets as a means of both monetizing our own generation, as well as sourcing contracted generation to meet customer and portfolio needs. With the increased trend toward customer demand for sustainability, this ability to source contracted generation has provided a capital-light way for us to provide customers with the renewable products they are demanding to support a cleaner energy ecosystem. This creates durable customer relationships and repeatable business through the ability to respond to customer and marketplace trends. Similarly, this contracting acumen provides the ability to supplement our native generation with other non-renewable assets to meet changing portfolio needs in a financially efficient manner. In our wholesale gas business we participate across all parts of the gas value chain, including trading, transport and storage and physical supply.
Retail Market
Retail competition in states across the U.S. range from full competition of generation suppliers for all retail customers (commercial, industrial and residential) to partial retail competition available up to a capped amount for industrial customers only. We are a leader in retail markets, serving approximately 140 TWhs of electric power load and 800 Bcf of gas in 2021, primarily to commercial and industrial ("C&I") customers across multiple geographic regions in the U.S.
Constellation Retail has a Diverse Geographic Footprint

Strong customer relationships are a key part of our customer-facing business strategy, as demonstrated by our high retention rates. Retail customer retention rates have been strong over the last five years across C&I power customer groups, with average contract terms of approximately 25 months and customer duration of more than six years, with many customers well beyond these metrics. Specifically, we enjoyed a 80% C&I power customer renewal rate and a 89% C&I gas customer retention rate in 2021, consistent with the previous four years, owing to both our competitive pricing as well as our strong customer relationships. Our consistently high renewal rates are driven by our ability to provide customized solutions and deliver focused attention to our customers’ needs, resulting in industry-leading customer satisfaction. We are also successful at acquiring new customers by offering diverse innovative services and products that meet their needs. In addition to our high customer renewal rates, we have experienced consistent high new win rates for C&I power as well, acquiring nearly one out of every three new customers who have chosen to shop with us over the past three years.
High customer satisfaction levels, market expertise, stability and scale drive growth and result in historically proven business consistency and margins. While providing customers with the best possible price is a key focus, we leverage our broad suite of electric and gas product structures, oftentimes customized, to provide customers with the commodity solution and information that best fits their needs. It is this attention to the customer that creates the durable, repeatable value highlighted in these statistics.
Consumer purchasing strategies have trended from direct supply relationships to third-party relationships with a growing number of customers looking to third-party consultants and brokers to find suppliers like us to reduce costs and evaluate the increasing number of options available for expanding energy solutions beyond the commodity. In response, we have expanded our third-party capabilities, created scale through a comprehensive support structure, and enhanced digital applications providing tools, tracking and measurement as well as the ability to extend the reach of our sustainability services and products to drive additional market share. While this trend of customers using third-parties to find suppliers has slowed in recent years, we have remained the market leader in direct sales with over 45% of the commercial and industrial market share of direct customer business driven by our highly experienced and long tenor direct sales team.
Energy Solutions
As one of the largest customer-facing platforms in the U.S., we benefit from significant economies of scale, which allow us to provide our customers with competitively priced energy and to structure highly tailored solutions targeted to a customer’s unique power needs and clean energy goals. We partner with our customers to provide options along the sustainability continuum, including, renewable, efficiency and technology applications to meet their carbon-free energy goals. Our energy efficiency products provide the ability to optimize performance and maximize efficiency across customer facilities and operations through contract structures that include implementation of energy efficiency upgrades with no upfront capital requirements. Additionally, these services provide scalable solutions to meet sustainability goals through investment across the life of the facility or operations and allow for budget certainty. The ongoing ability to optimize energy consumption for customers allows us to support customer demands with the right combination of technology and efficiency program options.
For example, our CORe product serves C&I customers' sustainability needs by matching contracted, third-party renewable generation with customer desire to add additional carbon free generation to the grid (additionality) and geographic preference. In addition to larger-scale CORe offerings, we offer a range of sustainability attribute solutions to customers (RECs, EFECs, RINs, RNG, carbon offsets, etc.) to support their energy needs during the transition to a cleaner energy ecosystem.
Pear.ai is our smart utility expense management platform that helps customers proactively manage utility costs, understand trends, and develop strategies to optimize spend and drive sustainability objectives. Pear.ai provides new avenues for incremental growth by coupling the opportunities for customer usage optimization with accompanying products and solutions that we can provide to customers. Services like Pear.ai allow us to grow our customer base in previously inaccessible regulated markets through the offering of non-commodity energy products.
Our Constellation Technology Ventures’ commercialization team invests in and collaborates with portfolio companies to deploy products and technologies across our broad customer base to drive value for both us and portfolio companies. Portfolio company solutions have included EV and charging infrastructure, sustainability monitoring and reporting tools, distributed energy resources and financing solutions, a web-based energy marketplace, and more.
Price and Supply Risk Management
We use a combination of wholesale and retail customer load sales, as well as non-derivative and derivative contracts, using both over-the-counter and exchange-traded instruments, including options, swaps, and forward and futures contracts, all with credit-approved counterparties, to hedge the price risk of the generation portfolio. For merchant revenues not already hedged via comprehensive state programs, such as the CMC in Illinois, we utilize a three-year ratable sales plan to align our hedging strategy with our financial objectives. The prompt three-year merchant revenues are hedged on an approximate rolling 90%/60%/30% basis, providing cash flow stability for our investors while still allowing commercial opportunities to generate value for the enterprise. We may also enter transactions that are outside of this ratable hedging program. We are exposed to commodity price risk in 2022 and beyond for portions of our electricity portfolio that are unhedged. As of December 31, 2021, the
percentage of expected generation hedged for the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, New York, and ERCOT reportable segments is 92%-95% and 73%-76% for 2022 and 2023, respectively. Similarly, the scale and scope of the portfolio provides risk-mitigating technology, product, and geographical diversification. We will continue to be proactive in using hedging strategies to mitigate commodity price volatility.
The percentage of expected generation hedged is the number of equivalent sales divided by the expected generation. Expected generation is the volume of energy that best represents our commodity position in energy markets from owned or contracted generation based on a simulated dispatch model that makes assumptions regarding future market conditions, which are calibrated to market quotes for power, fuel, load following products, and options. Equivalent sales represent all wholesale and retail load sales, as well as hedging products, which include economic hedges and certain non-derivative contracts. A portion of our hedging strategy may be implemented using fuel products based on assumed correlations between power and fuel prices. Our risk management group monitors the financial risks of the wholesale and retail power marketing activities. We also use financial and commodity contracts for proprietary trading purposes, but this activity accounts for only a small portion of our efforts. The proprietary trading portfolio is subject to a risk management policy that includes stringent risk management limits. See ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK for additional information.
The cycle of production and utilization of nuclear fuel includes the mining and milling of uranium ore into uranium concentrates, the conversion of uranium concentrates to uranium hexafluoride, the enrichment of the uranium hexafluoride, and the fabrication of fuel assemblies. Nuclear fuel assemblies are obtained predominantly through long-term uranium concentrate supply contracts, contracted conversion services, contracted enrichment services, or a combination thereof, and contracted fuel fabrication services. We have inventory in various forms and do not anticipate difficulty in obtaining the necessary uranium concentrates or conversion, enrichment, or fabrication services to meet the nuclear fuel requirements of our nuclear units. We size our inventory holdings and forward contractual requirements to protect against supply disruptions and near-term price volatility, while mitigating concentration of risk with our suppliers and allowing for capital flexibility.
Natural gas is procured through long-term and short-term contracts, as well as spot-market purchases. Fuel oil inventories are managed so that in the winter months sufficient volumes of fuel are available in the event of extreme weather conditions and during the remaining months to take advantage of favorable market pricing.
See ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS, ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS, Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates and Note 16 — Derivative Financial Instruments of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding derivative financial instruments.
Seasonality
Our operations are affected by weather, which affects demand for electricity and natural gas, as well as operating conditions. The market price for electricity is also affected by changes in the demand for electricity and the available supply of electricity. With respect to the electric business, very warm weather in summer months and, with respect to the electric and natural gas businesses, very cold weather in winter months is referred to as “favorable weather conditions” because those weather conditions result in increased deliveries of electricity and natural gas. Conversely, mild weather reduces demand. As a result, our operating results in the future may fluctuate substantially on a seasonal basis, especially when more severe weather conditions such as heat waves or extreme winter weather make such fluctuations more pronounced. The pattern of this fluctuation may change depending on the type and location of the facilities owned, the retail load served and the terms of contracts to purchase or sell electricity. See ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK for additional information.
Insurance
We are subject to liability, property damage, and other risks associated with major incidents at our generating stations. We have reduced our financial exposure to these risks through insurance, both property damage and liability, and other industry risk-sharing provisions. We also maintain business interruption insurance for our renewable projects, but not for our other generating stations unless required by contract or financing agreements. We are self-insured to the extent that any losses may exceed the amount of insurance maintained or are within the policy deductible for our insured losses.
For additional information regarding property insurance, see ITEM 2. PROPERTIES, Note 17 — Debt and Credit Agreements for additional information on financing agreements, and Note 19 — Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for insurance specific to our nuclear facilities.
Regulation
We are a public utility as defined under the Federal Power Act and are subject to FERC’s exclusive ratemaking jurisdiction over wholesale sales of electricity and the transmission of electricity in interstate commerce. Under the Federal Power Act, FERC has the authority to grant or deny market-based rates for sales of energy, capacity, and ancillary services to ensure that such sales are just and reasonable. FERC’s jurisdiction over ratemaking includes the authority to suspend the market-based rates of utilities and set cost-based rates should FERC find that its previous grant of market-based rates authority is no longer just and reasonable. Other matters subject to FERC jurisdiction include, but are not limited to, third-party financings; review of mergers; dispositions of jurisdictional facilities and acquisitions of securities of another public utility or an existing operational generating facility; affiliate transactions; intercompany financings and cash management arrangements; certain internal corporate reorganizations; and certain holding company acquisitions of public utility and holding company securities.
RTOs and ISOs are FERC regulated entities that exist in several regions to provide transmission service across multiple transmission systems. FERC has approved PJM, MISO, ISO-NE, and SPP as RTOs and CAISO and NYISO as ISOs. These entities are responsible for regional planning, managing transmission congestion, developing wholesale markets for energy and capacity, maintaining reliability, market monitoring, the scheduling of physical power sales brokered through ICE and NYMEX, and the elimination or reduction of redundant transmission charges imposed by multiple transmission providers when wholesale customers take transmission service across several transmission systems. ERCOT is not subject to regulation by FERC but performs a similar function in Texas to that performed by RTOs in markets regulated by FERC.
We are subject to the jurisdiction of the NRC with respect to the operation of our nuclear generating facilities, including the licensing for operation of each unit. The NRC subjects nuclear generating stations to continuing review and regulation covering, among other things, operations, maintenance, emergency planning, security, and environmental and radiological aspects of those stations. As part of its reactor oversight process, the NRC continuously assesses unit performance indicators and inspection results and communicates its assessment on a semi-annual basis. All nuclear generating stations operated by us are categorized by the NRC in the Licensee Response Column, which is the highest of five performance bands. The NRC may modify, suspend, or revoke operating licenses and impose civil penalties for failure to comply with the Atomic Energy Act or the terms of the operating licenses. Changes in regulations by the NRC may require a substantial increase in capital expenditures and/or operating costs for our nuclear generating facilities. NRC regulations also require that licensees of nuclear generating facilities demonstrate reasonable assurance that funds will be available in specified minimum amounts at the end of the life of the facility to decommission the facility. The ultimate decommissioning obligation is expected to be funded by the NDT funds. See ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS Liquidity and Capital Resources; Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates, Nuclear Decommissioning Asset Retirement Obligations; and Note 3 — Regulatory Matters, Note 10 — Asset Retirement Obligations, and Note 18 — Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities of the Notes to Consolidated Financial statements for additional information regarding our NDT funds and decommissioning obligations.
Our operations are also subject to the jurisdiction of various other Federal, state, regional, and local agencies, and Federal and state environmental protection agencies. Additionally, we are subject to NERC mandatory reliability standards, which protect the nation’s bulk power system against potential disruptions from cyber and physical security breaches.
Constellation's Strategy and Outlook
Strategy
We believe shareholder value is built on a foundation of operational excellence and the pairing of our majority carbon-free energy fleet with our customer facing platform. We are committed to maintaining investment grade credit ratings. We are focused on optimizing cash returns through a disciplined approach to safe and efficient operations and cost management, underpinned by stable and durable margins from our customer-facing
businesses and coupled with visible payments to our generation plants for the clean energy attributes. We may pursue future growth opportunities that provide additional value building on our core businesses, or expanding our competitive advantages. We are committed to maintaining a strong balance sheet, to returning value to our shareholders, and to investing in clean energy solutions.
As environmental sustainability continues to build momentum for businesses across the country, the demand for carbon-free and sustainability products increases. We are committed to a carbon-free energy future, and we aim to serve as a partner to businesses and the federal, state and local governments that are setting ambitious carbon-reduction goals and seeking long-term solutions to the climate crisis. For two decades, our predecessor company was a strong advocate for policies that would address the climate crisis. We will continue to be a leading advocate at the federal level and in our states for policies that will reduce GHG emissions and preserve and grow clean energy.
Building upon Exelon’s long-standing commitment to reducing our GHG emissions, we are committed to the following:
1.Achieving a generation portfolio mix with 100% of our owned generation carbon-free by 2040, including an interim goal of 95% carbon-free by 2030, subject to policy support and technology advancements
2.A 100% reduction of our operations-driven emissions by 2040, including an interim goal to reduce carbon emissions by 65% from 2020 levels by 2030 and reduce methane emissions 30% from 2020 by 2030, and
3.Providing 100% of C&I customers with specific information about their GHG impact.
Our business strategy is to maximize value for all our stakeholders, coupled with ESG principles that are integrated with and core to our strategy, through a particular emphasis on:
Carbon-Free Energy Advocacy. We will continue to work with policymakers to find solutions that drive decarbonization and provide value to customers.
Carbon-Free Energy & Climate Mitigation. We will continue to prioritize safety in operating our reliable, best in class, carbon-free, generation assets and growing the supply of clean power, fuels, and energy carriers including hydrogen that will be essential to fighting the climate crisis. We will mitigate the impacts of climate change on our business through adaptation and building resiliency in our supply chain through partnerships with our key suppliers to build a sustainable supply chain that delivers energy and quality products and services and responsibly manages waste. We will also partner with our key energy suppliers on their GHG emissions and climate adaptation strategies.
Clean Customer Transformation. Customers, including businesses and cities, are transforming to become more sustainable from energy supply to management. From products that supply clean power when they need it 24 hours a day to transformative solutions to integrate clean fuels, we will continue to innovate and develop new products to meet our customers’ needs.
Technology and Commercialization. We will partner with our customers, suppliers, universities, governments, national labs, and startups to support technology advancement through development, partnerships and commercialization pathways. We commit to help enable future technologies and business models needed to drive the clean energy economy to improve the health and welfare of communities through venture investing and R&D. We will target 25% of these investments to minority and women led businesses and will require investment recipients to disclose how they engage in equitable employment and contracting practices, using performance as a factor when considering investments.
Equity and Community Empowerment. We are committed to building a future in which all of our customers, employees, business partners, and communities benefit equitably from social, environmental and economic progress.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Our commitment is an advantage in the fight against climate change, including a commitment to attract, retain, and develop a diverse, equitable workforce, promote an inclusive culture and extend diversity and inclusiveness throughout our value chain.
Governance and Ethics. We will build upon a strong compliance and risk management foundation from our predecessor company and recognize the critical role this serves in maximizing operational results. We will continue to manage cash flow volatility through prudent risk management strategies across our business.
We are committed to maintaining sufficient financial liquidity and an appropriate capital structure to support safe, secure and reliable operations, even in volatile market conditions. We believe our investment grade credit rating is a competitive advantage and we intend to maintain our credit position and best-in-class balance sheet. In line with that commitment, available cash flow will first be used to comfortably meet investment grade credit targets, with incremental capital allocated towards shareholder return and disciplined growth. We continually evaluate growth opportunities aligned with our businesses, assets and markets leveraging our expertise in those areas and offering sustainable returns. We may pursue growth opportunities that optimize our core business or expand upon our strengths, including, but not limited to the following:
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Opportunistic carbon-free energy acquisitions, particularly nuclear plants with supportive policy
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Create new value from the existing fleet through repowering, co-location and other opportunities
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Grow sustainability products and services for our customers focused on clean energy, efficiency, storage and electrification; help our C&I customers develop and meet sustainability targets
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Produce clean hydrogen using our carbon-free fleet
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Engagement with the technology and innovation ecosystem through continued partnerships with national labs, universities, startups, and research institutions
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Explore advanced nuclear technology for investment and participation via advisory services to maintain our leadership position as stewards of a carbon-free energy future
We will employ a disciplined approach to acquisitions that grow future cash flow and support strategic initiatives. We will also continue to evaluate asset and business divestitures to rationalize the portfolio and optimize cash proceeds.
Various market, financial, regulatory, legislative and operational factors could affect our success in pursuing these strategies. We continue to assess infrastructure, operational, policy, and legal solutions to these issues. See ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS for additional information.
Outlook
The U.S. energy sector is experiencing unprecedented changes that we believe will increase the demand for reliable, clean power generation and benefit our business. We believe our generation fleet, including our nuclear assets, is well-positioned to deliver reliable, clean power and benefit from growing demand for carbon-free electricity. Key drivers of increased demand for clean energy include:
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Governmental and corporate policies designed to accelerate the decarbonization of the economy,
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Policy support for nuclear energy sources that also enable energy security, reliability and diversification,
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Rapid electrification of the U.S. economy; and
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Evolving customer preferences favoring clean energy, choice and digitization
Policy Support for Decarbonization and Emerging Carbon-Free Technologies. Driven by societal concerns about climate change, governments, corporations, and investors are increasingly advocating for the reduction of GHG emissions across all sectors of the economy, with reduction of GHG emissions by the energy sector being a key focus. Governments at the international, national and state levels have established or are currently contemplating increasingly stringent policies that require the reduction of GHG emissions over time. Corporations have also adopted targets to reduce the carbon emissions in their business operations, spurred in part by demand from investors and customers for sustainable, environment-friendly business practices. Emerging technologies like storage and hydrogen are also helping to advance decarbonization. We are committed to a clean energy future and we believe our business is well-positioned to benefit from growing policy support for
decarbonization as our generation fleet is essential to helping meet clean energy targets at both the state and federal levels.
Policy Support for Nuclear Energy. As decarbonization accelerates, we expect our generation fleet will play a critical role in meeting baseload power needs. Nuclear energy is currently the largest source of zero emissions electricity in the U.S., accounting for over 50% of the nation’s carbon-free power and our nuclear plants are meaningful contributors to the clean energy mix in the states in which they operate. Given the Biden Administration’s aggressive goals for reducing emissions within the electric power sector, policymakers have recognized the urgent need to prevent the retirement of nuclear power plants prior to the end of their licensed lives. Several states where our nuclear facilities operate have established policies to support nuclear generation, driven by factors that include recognition by governments and policy makers that existing nuclear generation facilities are essential to meeting policy objectives on reduction of GHG emissions, the desire to support jobs and regional economies, and the need to ensure reliability and security of the electrical grid through resource diversity. A 2018 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World,” found that the costs of achieving transformational decarbonization targets would increase significantly without the contribution of nuclear power. As such, we plan to file applications to extend the licenses of our nuclear fleet to 80 years for our units that receive continued policy support for their long-term operation.
Electrification of the U.S Economy. The push to significantly reduce or eliminate GHG emissions could lead to acceleration of the electrification of the U.S. economy, including electrification of transportation, industrial operations, heating and cooling, and appliances, which could materially increase demand for electricity. We expect widespread electrification could result in U.S. electricity demand to nearly double from what it is today by 2050. Although EV sales in North America are well behind Europe and China, increased policy support from the Biden administration, together with an increasing number of EV offerings hitting the market over the next five years, will drive market share gains in the U.S. market. With over 90% of states offering incentives for setting up EV charging infrastructure, U.S. EV market sales are projected to rise to 6.9 million units by 2025. Electrification of industrial processes, commercial equipment and residential appliances that currently utilize gas and oil as a fuel source will also play a role in increasing the net demand for electricity. According to the International Energy Agency, heat makes up two-thirds of industrial energy demand, and almost one-fifth of global energy consumption, prompting efforts by energy companies and industrial manufacturers to electrify their thermal processes. For companies like us whose core competency is safely generating and serving electricity and related products to its customers, the increasing demand from electrification provides natural growth opportunities.
Evolving Customer Preferences. Consumers are increasingly purpose-driven and knowledgeable of services that drive decarbonization, leading them to value the ability to be connected to and trace the source of their clean energy choices. A third-party study found that 60% of consumers have become more aware of climate change since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than half of consumers likely to invest and upgrade to energy efficiency programs. Growing awareness of climate change and green energy helps drive customer interest in value-add services and products around their energy usage, such as residential rooftop solar, EV charging, smart, energy-efficient home technologies, and the ability to choose 100 percent clean power 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in competitive retail energy markets. Continuing innovation in the digitization of the broader economy will facilitate greater control and opportunities for customers and businesses to more frequently engage with their energy providers and become more knowledgeable of their energy choices, including the products we provide.
Employees
Engaged Workforce
Our employees are our greatest assets. We strive to create a workplace that is diverse, inclusive, innovative, and safe for our employees. In order to provide the services and products that our customers expect, we must create the best teams and these teams must reflect the diversity of the communities that we serve. Therefore, we strive to attract highly qualified and diverse talent and routinely review our hiring, development and promotion practices to ensure we maintain equitable and bias free processes.
We will continue to undertake extensive and periodic employee engagement surveys to help identify our successes and opportunities for growth. The survey results will be reviewed with senior management and our Board of Directors.
Career Development
We provide our employees with growth opportunities, competitive compensation and benefits, and a variety of education and development programs. We are committed to helping employees advance their skills and careers largely through educational opportunities in technical, safety and business acumen areas, in addition to development through individual discussions and mentorship programs, as well as continuous feedback and evaluations. We understand that continued education leads to a more engaged, skilled and productive workforce and we support our employees in their educational endeavors in order to attract and retain people who are committed to personal and professional development by offering tuition reimbursement for approved higher education, certification or licensing courses.
Well-Being and Benefits
Our employees are encouraged to thrive outside the workplace as well. We provide a full suite of wellness benefits targeted at supporting work-life balance, physical, mental and financial health, and industry-leading paid leave policies. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, our employees also received additional benefits including 100% coverage of all in-network medical expenses associated with COVID-19 testing and treatment through June 2021, paid time off to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and extended back-up child and elder care benefits through September 2020.
Community
We are also committed to helping improve the quality of life for people in the communities where we live, work and serve. We provide opportunities for company-sponsored volunteerism. Even in pandemic conditions, our employees donated nearly $4 million to non-profit organizations and provided just over 34,000 volunteer hours in 2021.
Next Generation of Talent
We are also committed to exposing people within our communities to career opportunities in the energy industry. Through internships, university and veteran recruiting, STEM programs, and partnerships with organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers and the National Society of Black Engineers, we are committed to providing professional development and opportunities for the next generation of our workforce. Major focus areas include:
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Creating STEM and vocational education and awareness
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Reducing or removing educational barriers and obstacles faced by young people and underrepresented and underserved members of the community and
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Deepening current and executing new approaches and partnerships with employers, nonprofits, and community groups to expand training and job opportunities for work-ready adults and youth
Diversity Metrics
The following table shows diversity metrics for all employees and management as of December 31, 2021:
| Metric | All Employees | Management**(d)** | |||||||||
| Female(a)(b) | 2,389 | 320 | |||||||||
| People of Color(b) | 2,030 | 229 | |||||||||
| Aged <30 | 1,293 | 49 | |||||||||
| Aged 30-50 | 6,399 | 1,187 | |||||||||
| Aged >50 | 4,004 | 758 | |||||||||
| Within 10 years of retirement eligibility | 5,242 | 1,034 | |||||||||
| Total Employees(c) | 11,696 | 1,994 |
(a)We are devoted to creating an environment that allows women to stay in the workforce, grow with the company, and move up the ranks, all with parity of pay. We employed an independent third-party vendor to run regression analysis on all management positions each year and the analysis has consistently shown that the we have no systemic pay equity issues.
(b)This is based on self-disclosed information.
(c)Total employees represents the sum of the aged categories.
(d)Management is defined as executive/senior level officials and managers as well as all employees who have direct reports and supervisory responsibilities.
Turnover Rates
As turnover is inherent, management succession planning is performed and tracked for all executives and critical key manager positions. Management frequently reviews succession planning to ensure we are prepared when positions become available.
The table below shows the average turnover rate for all employees for the last three years of 2019 to 2021:
| All | |||||
| Retirement Age | 5.14 | % | |||
| Voluntary | 4.31 | % | |||
| Non-Voluntary | 1.34 | % |
Collective Bargaining Agreements
Approximately 28% of employees participate in CBAs. The following table presents employee information, including information about CBAs, as of December 31, 2021:
| Total Employees Covered by CBAs | Number of CBAs | CBAs New and Renewed in 2021**(a)** | Total Employees Under CBAs New and Renewed in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3,274 | 22 | 4 | 1,592 |
(a)Does not include CBAs that were extended in 2021 while negotiations are ongoing for renewal.
Environmental Matters and Regulation
We are subject to comprehensive and complex environmental legislation and regulation at the federal, state, and local levels, including requirements relating to climate change, air and water quality, solid and hazardous waste, and impacts on species and habitats.
Our Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the management of environmental matters. We have a management team to address environmental compliance and strategy, including the CEO and other senior management. Performance of those individuals directly involved in environmental compliance and strategy is reviewed and affects compensation as part of the annual individual performance review process. Our Board of
Directors has delegated to its Nuclear Oversight Committee and the Corporate Governance Committee the authority to oversee our compliance with health, environmental, and safety laws and regulations and its strategies and efforts to protect and improve the quality of the environment, including our internal climate change and sustainability policies and programs, as discussed in further detail below.
Climate Change
Driven by societal concerns about climate change, governments, corporations, and investors are increasingly advocating for the reduction of GHG emissions across all sectors of the economy, with reduction of GHG emissions by the energy sector being a key focus. Governments at the international, national and state levels have established or are currently contemplating increasingly stringent policies that require the reduction of GHG emissions over time. Corporations have also adopted targets to reduce the carbon emissions in their business operations, spurred in part by demand from investors and customers for sustainable, environment-friendly business practices. Emerging technologies like storage and hydrogen are also helping to advance decarbonization.
We believe our business is well-positioned to benefit from growing policy support for decarbonization. However, as detailed below, we also face climate change mitigation and transition risks as well as adaptation risks. Mitigation and transition risks include changes to the energy systems as a result of new technologies, changing customer expectations and/or voluntary GHG reduction goals, as well as local, state or federal regulatory requirements intended to reduce GHG emissions. Adaptation risk refers to risks to our facilities or operations that may result from changes in the physical climate, such as changes to temperatures, weather patterns and sea level rise. See ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS for additional information.
Climate Change Mitigation and Transition
We support comprehensive federal climate legislation that addresses the climate crisis and would ensure the country meets the targets set by the Paris Climate Accord. In the absence of comprehensive federal legislation, we support EPA moving forward with meaningful regulation of GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act. We currently are subject to, and may become subject to additional, federal and/or state legislation and/or regulations addressing GHG emissions.
We are deliberately positioned as a low-carbon generation company. We have minimized GHG emitting assets in our portfolio and maximized carbon-free electric production such that our generation emissions intensity is already 80% less than 2005 levels in support of achieving economy-wide GHG emissions reduction goals. Our Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions in 2020 were 8.2 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent, of which 7.8 million metric tons were from our natural gas and oil fueled generation fleet, significantly less than our peers with similar volume of power generation.
We produce electricity predominantly from low and carbon-free generating facilities (such as nuclear, hydroelectric, natural gas, wind, and solar PV) and neither own nor operate any coal-fueled generating assets. Our natural gas and oil generating plants produce GHG emissions, most notably CO2. In addition, we sell natural gas at retail; and consumers’ use of such natural gas produces GHG emissions. However, our owned-asset emission intensity, or rate of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emitted per unit of electricity generated, is among the lowest in the industry. In 2021, we achieved a 94.5% percent capacity factor across our nuclear fleet and our ownership of 21 gigawatts of carbon-free generation capacity at 23 nuclear units produced 175 TWhs of electricity in 2021 — approximately 10% of U.S. carbon-free electric supply.
The electric sector plays a key role in lowering GHG emissions across the rest of the economy. Electrification of other sectors such as transportation and buildings coupled with simultaneous decarbonization of electric generation is a key lever for emissions reductions. To support this transition, we are advocating for public policy supportive of vehicle electrification, investing in enabling infrastructure and technology, and supporting customer education and adoption. We also continue to explore other decarbonization opportunities, supporting pilots of emerging energy technologies and development of clean fuels.
International Climate Change Agreements. At the international level, the United States is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Parties to the UNFCCC adopted the Paris Agreement at the 21st session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP 21) on December 12, 2015. Under the Agreement, which became effective on November 4, 2016, the parties committed to try to limit the
global average temperature increase and to develop national GHG reduction commitments. On November 4, 2020, the United States formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement, retracting its commitment to reduce domestic GHG emissions by 26%-28% by 2025 compared with 2005 levels. However, on January 20, 2021, President Biden accepted the Paris Agreement, which resulted in the United States’ formal re-entry on February 19, 2021. The United States has now set an economy-wide target of reducing its net GHG emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030. The 2021 UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP26) and resulting Glasgow Climate Pact indicated important global support for the Paris Agreement and continued progress toward decarbonization.
Federal Climate Change Legislation and Regulation. Combating climate change is one of the top legislative agenda items of the Biden administration, with the President proposing a 100% clean energy economy with net zero GHG emissions by 2050 and to reduce U.S. emissions by 50% or more from 2005 levels by 2030. While consideration of the Build Back Better Act has stalled in Congress, Senator Joe Manchin continues to express an openness to a smaller bill that includes climate-related provisions that include a production tax credit for clean power sources. We support federal tax credits that recognize the value of existing carbon-free nuclear plants and support the development of hydrogen solutions. It is uncertain when, or whether, Congress will consider action on a climate bill, but the Biden Administration and members of Congress have recognized the importance of existing nuclear power plants, which provide half of the nation’s emissions-free energy, to meeting U.S. climate goals. A federal tax credit would prevent the continued premature closure of nuclear plants for economic reasons.
Regulation of GHGs from Power Plants under the Clean Air Act. The EPA’s 2015 Clean Power Plan (CPP) established regulations addressing carbon dioxide emissions from existing fossil-fired power plants under Clean Air Act Section 111(d). The CPP’s carbon pollution limits could be met through changes to the electric generation system, including shifting generation from higher-emitting units to lower- or zero-emitting units, as well as the development of new or expanded zero-emissions generation. In July 2019, the EPA published its final Affordable Clean Energy rule, which repealed the CPP and replaced it with less stringent emissions guidelines for existing fossil-fired power plants based on heat rate improvement measures that could be achieved within the fence line of individual plants. We, as part of Exelon, together with a coalition of other electric utilities, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on September 6, 2019, challenging the Affordable Clean Energy rule as unlawful. This lawsuit was consolidated with separate challenges to the Affordable Clean Energy rule filed by various states, non-governmental organizations, and business coalitions. On January 19, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held the Affordable Clean Energy Rule to be unlawful, vacated the rule, and remanded it to the EPA. On October 29, 2021, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to examine the extent of EPA’s authority to regulate GHGs from power plants; a decision is expected in 2022. The EPA has indicated it will promulgate new GHG limits for existing power plants.
State Climate Change Legislation and Regulation. Many states in which we operate have state and regional programs to reduce GHG emissions and renewable and other portfolio standards, which impact the power sector and other sectors as well. 25 states and the District of Columbia have 100% clean energy targets, deep GHG reductions, or both, encompassing 54% of U.S residential electricity customers. See discussion below for additional information on renewable and other portfolio standards. As the nation’s largest generator of carbon-free electricity, our fleet supports these efforts to produce safe, reliable electricity with minimal GHGs.
Eleven northeast and mid-Atlantic states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia) currently participate in the RGGI, which is in the process of strengthening its requirements. The program requires most fossil fuel-fired power plants in the region to hold allowances, purchased at auction, for each ton of CO2 emissions. Non-emitting resources do not have to purchase or hold these allowances. In October 2019, the Governor of Pennsylvania issued an Executive Order directing the PA DEP to begin a rulemaking process to allow Pennsylvania to join the RGGI, with the goal of reducing carbon emissions from the electricity sector. The Environmental Quality Board of the PA DEP approved that rule on July 13, 2021, paving the way for Pennsylvania’s participation in RGGI beginning sometime in 2022.
In 2019, New York enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which commits the state to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, with interim emission reduction and renewable energy requirements in 2030 and 2040. New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan, released in 2020, provides a comprehensive roadmap for achieving the state’s goal of a 100% clean energy economy by 2050 and its Global Warming Response Act’s stated GHG emissions reductions of 80% below 2006 levels by 2050. On September 15, 2021, Illinois Public Act 102-0662 was signed into law by the Governor of Illinois. The Clean Energy Law is designed to achieve 100%
carbon-free power by 2045 to enable the state’s transition to a clean energy economy. The Clean Energy Law establishes decarbonization requirements for Illinois as well as programs to support the retention and development of emissions-free sources of electricity.
Our nuclear plants are meaningful contributors to the clean energy mix in the states in which they operate. States may not be able to meet their zero-carbon goals without our nuclear plants, as our plants provide a significant portion of the current carbon-free power. Several states in which our nuclear facilities operate have established policies to support nuclear generation. The supportive policies are driven by several factors, including recognition by governments and policy makers that existing nuclear generation facilities are essential to meeting policy objectives on reduction of GHG emissions, the desire to support jobs and regional economies, and the need to ensure reliability and security of the electrical grid through resource diversity. These state-specific policies (date of enactment) include the following:
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New York Clean Energy Standard (2016) – established a ZEC program that preserves the environmental attributes of our FitzPatrick, Ginna, and NMP nuclear facilities through 2029
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Illinois Zero Emission Standard (2016) - established a ZEC program that preserves the environmental attributes of our Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear facilities through 2027
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New Jersey Clean Energy Legislation (2018) – established a ZEC program that includes preserving the environmental attributes of the Salem nuclear facility, currently through 2025
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Illinois Clean Energy Law (2021) – established a CMC program that preserves the environmental attributes of our Byron, Braidwood, and Dresden nuclear facilities through 2027
See Note 3 — Regulatory Matters of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the New Jersey Clean Energy Legislation and the Illinois Clean Energy Law.
Renewable and Clean Energy Standards. Thirty states and the District of Columbia, incorporating most of the states where we operate, have adopted some form of renewable or clean energy procurement requirement. These standards impose varying levels of mandates for procurement of renewable or clean electricity (the definition of which varies by state) and/or energy efficiency. These are generally expressed as a percentage of annual electric load, often increasing by year. Load Serving Entities comply with these various requirements through purchasing qualifying renewables, acquiring sufficient credits (e.g., RECs), paying an alternative compliance payment, and/or a combination of these compliance alternatives.
While we cannot predict the nature of future regulations or how such regulations might impact future financial statements, we have a low emission portfolio, and GHG restrictions would likely benefit our zero- and low-emission generating units relative to other higher-emission fossil fuel-fired generating units.
Corporate Clean Energy Targets. Corporations are facing increasing pressure from their customers and investors to align their businesses with international and national environmental and sustainability objectives, including supporting goals to reduce GHG emissions in their business operations. Leading institutional investors and money managers are increasingly considering sustainability as a key factor in investment decisions and are increasingly advocating for more transparency in disclosure on climate-related matters and pledging to align proxy voting to climate-rated proposals with its fiduciary duty. An increasing number of corporations are also proactively making commitments to reducing their GHG emissions footprint, either through procuring increasing amounts of clean energy or RECs to offset their carbon footprint over time. As the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free energy, we support taking bold action to address the climate change crisis and reestablish leadership in both emerging technologies and existing clean infrastructure that together will power the future.
Emerging Carbon-Free Technologies. Emerging carbon-free technologies like storage and hydrogen are also expected to help accelerate the economy’s decarbonization. Lower costs, state-directed mandates, a backlog of storage projects in the interconnection queue, and utilities seeking large-scale storage capacity to support higher renewables penetration have created conditions for rapid growth of this technology in the U.S. Clean hydrogen also has the potential to drive decarbonization, particularly as it relates to more challenging sectors like long-haul transportation, steel, chemicals, heating, agriculture, and long-term power storage. Nuclear power can be used to produce clean hydrogen, and our nuclear fleet positions us well to explore this emerging space. Both energy storage and clean hydrogen continue to gain political and business support and are expected to help support net-zero carbon goals.
Climate Change Adaptation
Our facilities and operations are subject to the global impacts of climate change. Long-term shifts in climactic patterns, such as sustained higher temperatures and sea level rise, may present challenges for our facilities and services. We believe our operations could be significantly affected by the physical risks of climate change. See ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS, for additional information.
We conduct seasonal readiness reviews at our power plants to ensure availability of fuel supplies and equipment performance before entering the summer and winter seasons and we consider and review national climate assessments to inform our longer-term planning. Our nuclear fleet is resilient to weather extremes and generates emissions free electricity 24 hours a day even during unexpectedly cold winter events and hot summer events.
Other Environmental Regulation
Air Quality
Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). In 2011, the EPA signed a final rule, known as MATS, to reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants from power plants. MATS requires coal-fired power plants to achieve high removal rates of mercury, acid gases, and other metals, and to make capital investments in pollution control equipment and incur higher operating expenses. In 2016, in response to a Supreme Court decision requiring the EPA to consider costs in determining whether it was appropriate and necessary to regulate power plant emissions of hazardous air pollutants, the EPA issued a supplemental finding that, after considering costs, it remained appropriate and necessary. On May 22, 2020, the EPA reversed course, publishing a final rule revoking the "appropriate and necessary" finding underpinning MATS. A coal mining company filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit seeking vacatur of MATS based on the EPA’s May 22, 2020 finding; on September 11, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted a motion by Exelon and two other entities to intervene in that lawsuit to defend MATS, and on September 28, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an Executive Order holding this portion of the MATS litigation in abeyance. On July 21, 2020, Exelon and two other entities filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging the EPA’s May 22, 2020 rescission of the appropriate and necessary finding underpinning MATS. This portion of the case is also being held in abeyance in response to the DOJ’s motion filed February 12, 2021. On January 20, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order directing the EPA to reconsider its May 22, 2020 rescission; on January 31, 2022 EPA signed a proposal to reaffirm that it is "appropriate and necessary" to regulate hazardous air pollutant emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. As a result, this litigation is likely to be rendered moot, and MATS will likely remain in place in the interim.
Water Quality
Under the federal Clean Water Act, NPDES permits for discharges into waterways are required to be obtained from the EPA or from the state environmental agency to which the permit program has been delegated, and permits must be renewed periodically. Certain of our facilities discharge water into waterways and are therefore, subject to these regulations and operate under NPDES permits.
Clean Water Act Section 316(b) is implemented through the NDPES program and requires that the cooling water intake structures at electric power plants reflect the best technology available to minimize adverse environmental impacts. Our power generation facilities with cooling water intake systems are subject to the EPA’s Section 316(b) regulations finalized in 2014; the regulation’s requirements have been or will be addressed through renewal of these facilities’ NPDES permits. Until the compliance requirements are determined by the applicable state permitting director on a site-specific basis for each plant, we cannot estimate the effect that compliance with the EPA’s 2014 rule will have on the operation of our generating facilities and our financial statements. Should a state permitting director determine that a facility must install cooling towers to comply with the rule, that facility’s economic viability could be called into question. However, the final rule does not mandate cooling towers and allows state permitting directors to require alternative, less costly technologies and/or operational measures, based on a site-specific assessment of the feasibility, costs, and benefits of available options.
On July 28, 2016, the NJDEP issued a final permit for Salem that did not require the installation of cooling towers and allows Salem to continue to operate utilizing the existing cooling water system with certain required system modifications. However, the permit is being challenged by an environmental organization, and if successful, could
result in additional costs for Clean Water Act compliance. Potential cooling water system modification costs could be material and could adversely impact the economic competitiveness of this facility.
Under Clean Water Act Section 404 and state laws and regulations, we may be required to obtain permits for projects involving dredge or fill activities in Waters of the United States.
Where our facilities are required to secure a federal license or permit for activities that may result in a discharge to covered waters, we may be required to obtain a state water quality certification for those facilities under Clean Water Act section 401.
We are also subject to the jurisdiction of the Delaware River Basin Commission and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, regional agencies that primarily regulate water usage.
Solid and Hazardous Waste and Environmental Remediation
CERCLA provides for response and removal actions coordinated by the EPA in the event of threatened releases of hazardous substances and authorizes the EPA either to clean up sites at which hazardous substances have created actual or potential environmental hazards or to order persons responsible for the situation to do so. Under CERCLA, generators and transporters of hazardous substances, as well as past and present owners and operators of hazardous waste sites, are strictly, jointly and severally liable for the cleanup costs of hazardous waste at sites, many of which are listed by the EPA on the National Priorities List (NPL). These PRPs can be ordered to perform a cleanup, can be sued for costs associated with an EPA-directed cleanup, may voluntarily settle with the EPA concerning their liability for cleanup costs, or may voluntarily begin a site investigation and site remediation under state oversight. Most states have also enacted statutes that contain provisions substantially like CERCLA. Such statutes apply in many states where we currently own or operate, or previously owned or operated facilities, including Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. In addition, RCRA governs treatment, storage and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes and cleanup of sites where such activities were conducted.
Our operations have in the past, and may in the future, require substantial expenditures in order to comply with these Federal and state environmental laws. Under these laws, we may be liable for the costs of remediating environmental contamination of property now or formerly owned by us and of property contaminated by hazardous substances generated by us. We own or lease several real estate parcels, including parcels on which our operations or the operations of others may have resulted in contamination by substances that are considered hazardous under environmental laws. We are, or could become in the future, parties to proceedings initiated by the EPA, state agencies, and/or other responsible parties under CERCLA and RCRA or similar state laws with respect to several sites or may undertake to investigate and remediate sites for which we may be subject to enforcement actions by an agency or third-party.
As of December 31, 2021, we have established appropriate contingent liabilities for environmental remediation requirements. In addition, we may be required to make significant additional expenditures not presently determinable for other environmental remediation costs. See Note 3 — Regulatory Matters and Note 19 — Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding our environmental matters, remediation efforts, and related impacts to our Consolidated Financial Statements.
Nuclear Waste Storage and Disposal
There are no facilities for the reprocessing or permanent disposal of SNF currently in operation in the United States, nor has the NRC licensed any such facilities. We currently store all SNF generated by our nuclear generating facilities on-site in storage pools or in dry cask storage facilities. Since our SNF storage pools generally do not have sufficient storage capacity for the life of the respective plant, we have developed dry cask storage facilities to support operations.
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 89,400 SNF assemblies (21,900 tons) stored on site in SNF pools or dry cask storage that includes SNF assemblies at Zion Station, for which we retain ownership and responsibility for the decommissioning of the Zion Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation. All our nuclear sites currently operating have on-site dry cask storage. TMI's on-site dry cask storage is projected to be in operation in 2022. On-site dry cask storage in concert with on-site storage pools will be capable of meeting all current and future SNF storage requirements at our sites through the end of the current license renewal periods
and through decommissioning. For a discussion of matters associated with our contracts with the DOE for the disposal of SNF, see Note 19 — Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
As a by-product of their operations, nuclear generating units produce LLRW. LLRW is accumulated at each generating station and permanently disposed of at licensed disposal facilities. The Federal Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980 provides that states may enter into agreements to provide regional disposal facilities for LLRW and restrict use of those facilities to waste generated within the region. Illinois and Kentucky have entered into such an agreement, although neither state currently has an operational site, and none is anticipated to be operational for the next ten years. We ship our Class A LLRW, which represents 93% of LLRW generated at our stations, to disposal facilities in Utah and South Carolina, which have enough storage capacity to store all Class A LLRW for the life of all stations in our nuclear fleet. The disposal facility in South Carolina at present is only receiving LLRW from LLRW generators in South Carolina, New Jersey (which includes Salem), and Connecticut.
We utilize on-site storage capacity at all our stations to store and stage for shipping Class B and Class C LLRW. We have a contract through 2032 to ship Class B and Class C LLRW to a disposal facility in Texas. The agreement provides for disposal of all Class B and Class C LLRW currently stored at each station as well as the Class B and Class C LLRW generated during the term of the agreement. However, because the production of LLRW from our nuclear fleet will exceed the capacity at the Texas site (3.9 million curies for 15 years beginning in 2012), we will still be required to utilize on-site storage at our stations for Class B and Class C LLRW. We currently have enough storage capacity to store all Class B and Class C LLRW for the life of all stations in our nuclear fleet and continue to pursue alternative disposal strategies for LLRW, including an LLRW reduction program to minimize on-site storage and cost impacts.
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