Exelon has acquired the FitzPatrick nuclear plant from Entergy Corp., the company and state announced Tuesday, putting in sight an end to uncertainty surrounding the plant’s future even as the state continues to lean on nuclear power to help reach its clean energy goals.

The $110 million agreement transfers the plant’s operating license to Exelon, according to the company. The New York Power Authority will transfer the decommissioning trust fund and liability for FitzPatrick, which is on the shores of Lake Ontario near Oswego, to Entergy, which would then transfer them to Exelon if the deal is approved by regulators and the transaction closes.

It’s expected that the acquisition will be complete in the second quarter of 2017, Exelon said.

The company said it does not anticipate any immediate change to staffing levels. Some 600 people are employed at the plant.

Exelon gave Gov. Andrew Cuomo credit for helping facilitate the transaction by asking the state Public Service Commission to adopt a Clean Energy Standard that included subsidies for upstate nuclear.

“This state cannot lose our supply of nuclear energy because it’s important to keep the balance of supply,” Cuomo said at Tuesday rally in support of the plant. “If you lose nuclear, you’ll see that natural gas will spike or we’ll be subject to price increases from other sources because we don’t have balanced alternatives. So I believe the state has a moral obligation, financial obligation and a civic obligation to step in to this situation to avert a crisis for Central New York and to avert an energy crisis for this entire state.”

While Cuomo has seized upon every hiccup at the Indian Point nuclear plant downstate to amplify his calls for its closure, he has touted the benefits of the FitzPatrick plant and other upstate nuclear power generation.

The plant has hemorrhaged money, but in June the governor said he was not supportive of NYPA taking over operations from Entergy Corp. Last month, he welcomed news that Exelon, which operates the similarly beleaguered Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station and the R.E. Ginna nuclear plant, was in negotiations to acquire Fitzpatrick.

Entergy had planned to shutter the plant by January if the sale did not go through, according to Syracuse.com.

In addition to hundreds of jobs provided by the plant, the governor has advocated for it to remain open in an effort to help the state meet its clean energy goals.

“Further, the plant helps avoid millions of metric tons of harmful carbon dioxide emissions each year and serves as a clean energy bridge to meeting the state’s 50% renewable energy goal by 2030,” Cuomo said in his July statement on the Exelon negotiations.

The PSC last week approved the new Clean Energy Standard aimed at meeting that 50 percent renewable energy goal by 2030.

“I believe this nation and this state needs a clean energy policy that is realistic and that can be implemented before we destroy this planet,” Cuomo said Tuesday. “And I believe that nuclear plays an important role in that clean energy policy.”

Cuomo’s appearance at the FitzPatrick rally marked his first upstate event of the day. He is to appear in Getzville, Erie County, at 12:30 p.m. to make an announcement.