State lawmakers vote to spare 2 nuclear plants

A multibillion-dollar subsidy for power giant Exelon Corp. to keep two unprofitable nuclear plants in Illinois operating during the next 13 years was on its way to a supportive Gov. Bruce Rauner Thursday after days of rushed negotiations and hours of contentious debate by lawmakers.

The Senate endorsed the measure, SB2814, praised as a forward-looking, clean-energy plan and lambasted as a bailout for a massive, profitable corporation, on a 32-18 vote just an hour after the House OK'd it 63-38.

The measure provides Exelon with $235 million a year as a reward for the carbon-free energy its nuclear reactors produce,  a prize Exelon argued it was just as entitled to as the "clean" energy-producing wind and solar industries.

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