New York State utility sells lakeside nuclear

ROCHESTER, NY - Constellation Energy Group is buying the nation's longest-serving nuclear plant for $401 million

Constellation, which already owns one nuclear plant and part of another one along the Lake Ontario shore, said Tuesday it is acquiring the 495-megawatt Robert E. Ginna pressurized-water atomic reactor from Rochester Gas & Electric, a division of Albany-based Energy East Corp.

The Ginna plant has churned out electricity for 33 years from its perch overlooking the lake in the rural town of Ontario, 16 miles northeast of Rochester.

Under the deal, which is expected to close next summer, Baltimore- based Constellation will sell 90 percent of the plant's energy to Rochester Gas & Electric for an average price of $44 a megawatt hour for 10 years. Constellation also will pay the utility $21.6 million for nuclear fuel.

The acquisition, expected to close next June 30, needs to be approved by various federal and state nuclear regulatory agencies. The sale is contingent on the plant's operating license, which expires in 2009, being extended next year for another 20 years.

The Ginna plant supplies half of Rochester Gas & Electric's electrical demand. It began operating commercially in July 1970, making it the most durable of America's 103 nuclear plants but not the oldest. It employs 440 people.

The Ginna plant was refitted with steam generators in 1996. Heated by the uranium reactor, the circulating water turns into steam, which drives turbines that power the generators.

In trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Constellation Energy shares rose 48 cents to close at $36.60 while Energy East shares rose 49 cents to close at $22.99.