I'm Ted Stoner, Site 
Vice President
at Clinton Power Station.
The Clinton Station has been
through a lot 
over the last couple of years. 
It has been a long time since
Clinton has been profitable. 
The Exelon Corporation 
has stood behind us 
during those troubled 
times, you know, 
really over the last three, 
four years. 
During that period of time is
also the period of time 
in which we operated 
at the highest capacity factor
in the nuclear fleet. 
Then in June of 2016 the 
company did announce 
that we would do 
early retirement. 
It was a very, very difficult
day for myself 
and all the employees. 
You would talk to your families
and friends 
and talk about, you know, 
I'm not sure about what's 
going to happen. 
I mean it went from like the
happiest place 
to the most saddest place. 
You could feel it.
I felt bad for the younger guys
because I was able to 
raise four kids and a family
with a good paying job. 
These kids, I just felt bad for
them. It was a mess.
We have approximately 650
full-time employees 
that work at the Clinton 
Power Plant. 
There's roughly 7,300 people in
Clinton, you know, 
so everybody in Clinton knows
somebody that works here. 
We contribute a lot of money as
far as to the tax base, 
to different programs that the
community is doing, 
different outreach groups. 
What would happen to the
community if the plant closed? 
That's a, that's a scary, 
scary thought.
To have to stand in front of
everybody and say 
regardless of your performance
we no longer are going to be 
asked to produce electricity was
extremely difficult. 
And I got in my car that night
and drove home. 
And I drove home and when the
first two wheels of my car 
hit the driveway and 
came to a stop 
I tried to get out of the car
and I couldn't get out of
the car.
I physically - I opened the door
and I physically was 
so emotionally exhausted 
I honestly 
could not get out of the car. 
And I just sat there and just
thought about everything 
that took place that day. 
I thought about how I gotta go
into the house now 
and face my wife and my 
children and say, 
"Hey, it's really happening, I
gotta - you know, 
we're going to have to move on."
And I don't know how 
long I sat there 
but I'm sure it was minutes, 
and my youngest son Jaxton came
out of the house, 
he heard me come home. 
And he was just lit up 
like a lightbulb 
to tell me how his day was at
school that day. 
And I honestly believe if he
would have not come out 
of the house that I'd still be
sitting there today, 
waiting for somebody to give me
a nudge to say, 
"Hey, it's gonna be ok, you
gotta, you gotta keep moving."
As soon as the announcement 
was made, 
people were writing letters 
to congressmen, 
people were getting
on the phones, 
people were telling 
their friends, 
social media went crazy,
the community stepped 
up beyond belief.
The employees really rallied. 
They did a lot to educate the
State of Illinois.
This past May,
Representative Mitchell and
Representative Brady
were kind enough to bring a
number of Exelon employees 
into my office - into the 
State Capitol. 
And I learned first-hand of 
what the impact 
this excellent plant has 
upon this region. 
Not only for the economy,
but more importantly 
for the families.
It was a huge effort, teaming 
up with labor, 
with the Sierra group, with
environmentalists, 
with the State of Illinois. 
We actually did get the 
bill to pass 
that allows the Clinton Power
Station to operate for, 
you know, the next 10 years. 
We're all thankful. We 
love this plant. 
We're going to continue to run
it safe and reliable, 
and it's a blessing that 
we all have jobs. 
It was like the Cubs won the
World Series again. 
But no, everybody was walking
around, high fives, hugs, 
it was laughing, it was a blast.
It was just like you're 
reborn again.
I tell all my employees at work,
I say you know, 
your family's the most 
important thing. 
My family consists of my 
wife of 17 years, 
three boys - my oldest 
boy is Christian.
He's an eighth-grader,
he's six foot three. Very avid
basketball star. 
My middle son Austin is much
more socially focused. 
My youngest son Jax says that he
wants to be president someday.
The only thing that worries me
is that I think he could. 
All three of my boys, we play
basketball quite frequently. 
All four of us are very
competitive.
It's usually very joyful,
pushing back and forth, making
fun of each other 
to see who gets a chance to win
the next time. 
The reason we come to work is so
that we can support 
our families, and you have to
put your family first. 
What I try to teach my boys is
no different 
than what I try to teach my
management staff 
and the people at the station. 
You know you've got to get along
with others, 
you've got to be able to work 
on a team. 
Trust is the most 
valuable asset, 
and we need everybody to work
together to do the right thing.
