CORDOVA, Illinois — The announcement on Thursday that Exelon will close its nuclear power plant in Cordova, Illinois is going to have an impact beyond the loss of 800 jobs.
Exelon pays the highest amount of property taxes in all of Rock Island County. Brad Cox is the Superintendent of Erie School District in Rock Island County, he says that if the plant were to close it would change the landscape of teaching and learning in Erie. According to Cox, one third of the district's budget comes from Exelon property taxes.
"Right now we're in a position where we can enjoy things like smaller class sizes and the technology that we have in the classroom right now is second to none," said Cox. He is concerned that the district would have to completely reassess how it spends money with the closure of Cordova's plant.
Just last week, dozens of people from Erie School District went to Springfield to try to push for the Next Generation Energy Plan legislation. It's legislation Exelon says is needed to keep the nuclear power plant open in the Quad Cities. The legislation never came to a vote, and now Exelon is following through with plans to shut down June 1, 2018.
Bill Stoermer is Communications Manager for the Quad Cities Generating Station, the nuclear power plant in Cordova, Illinois.
"You go talk to anyone of the 800 employees that are here today, they'll tell you it's not a threat," Stoermer said.
While the public waits to figure out if the closing will happen or if it's another step in negotiations to get legislation passed, there is concern that the highly specialized employees working at the Cordova plant may be tempted to jump ship before seeing if it sinks.
"Once they make that announcement, are people going to stick around to see if it actually closes, or are they going to start looking for other jobs and things of that nature and move out of the area which decreases the tax base even more," said Rock Island County Board member Don Johnston said.
For the past 43 years, the Cordova plant has generated more than just electricity. It has created jobs and taxes that have an impact on education like Erie School District.