- The amount of electricity generated by U.S. nuclear reactors hit its lowest seasonal level since 2006, held down by malfunctions and closures tied to Hurricane Matthew as well as routine maintenance.
- The outages mean natural gas use by generators likely will rise as grid operators rush to replace lost supplies at a time of unseasonably warm temperatures, which could boost power prices.
- Among the plants shuttered was Dominion's (NYSE:D) Surry 2 nuclear power plant in Virginia, which closed due to a system error, and NextEra Energy's (NYSE:NEE) St. Lucie 2 reactor in Florida, which went offline as a safety measure ahead of the hurricane.
- The closures come as 23 nuclear units, accounting for ~23% of total U.S. capacity, are scheduled to close to replace spent fuel rods in the three months through November.
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