The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth will close no later than June 1, 2019.

Plant owner Entergy made the announcement Monday morning saying they notified ISO New England Inc., the independent system operator of the electric grid, that pilgrim would be shutdown by that date.

Leo Denault, Entergy’s chairman and chief executive officer, said the decision to close the plant was based on a number of financial factors including lower natural gas prices, state energy proposals that subsidize renewable energy resources, and increased operational costs and enhanced Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight, consistent with Column 4 of the agency’s Reactor Oversight Process Action Matrix.

“The decision to close Pilgrim was incredibly difficult because of the effect on our employees and the communities in which they work and live,” said Denault, “Our people at Pilgrim are dedicated and skilled, a wonderful blend of young professionals and seasoned, experienced veterans, who for decades have been generating clean power and contributing millions of dollars of economic activity to the region. But market conditions and increased costs led us to reluctantly conclude that we had no option other than to shut down the plant.”

Entergy officials say the exact timing of the shutdown will depend on a number of factors, including further discussions with ISO New England.

A final date will be decided in the first half of 2016.

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