SCRIBA, N.Y. -- Exelon Generation has agreed to purchase the FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County, the companies announced today.

Entergy, the current owner of FitzPatrick, and Exelon announced the sale of the Scriba plant Tuesday morning. The agreement is worth $110 million, officials said.

The announcement comes just over a week after New York state regulators approved subsidies for Upstate nuclear plants. Exelon had been working "feverishly" on negotiations to purchase the plant, which had been due to shut down in January, officials said.

In the statement today, the companies recognized Gov. Andrew Cuomo for helping make the purchase possible by pushing for the state's new "clean energy standard" which included the subsidies for nuclear energy.

Cuomo spoke at a rally at FitzPatrick shortly before 10 a.m.

Follow Syracuse.com's live coverage of the rally

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement for the continued operation of FitzPatrick," Chris Crane, Exelon's president and chief executive officer, said in a news release. "We look forward to bringing FitzPatrick's highly-skilled team of professionals into the Exelon Generation nuclear program, and to continue delivering to New York the environmental, economic and grid reliability benefits of this important energy asset."

If the transaction is finalized, Entergy's decommissioning trust fund, its operating license and liability for FitzPatrick will be transferred to Exelon, officials said.

State and federal agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state Public Service Commission, must review and approve the transfer before the transaction can be closed, officials said.

The purchase is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2017.

Officials said Exelon has "committed" to refueling FitzPatrick in January 2017. Exelon doesn't anticipate any immediate staffing changes to the plant, which employs approximately 600 people, officials said.

"I would like specifically to thank our employees who have continued to operate this plant safely and reliably, despite the uncertainty they have faced about a potential shutdown," said Leo Denault, Entergy's chairman and chief executive officer.

Entergy announced it was considering closing FitzPatrick, which the company called a financially ailing plant, in September 2015.

Workers petitioned in support of the plant as local, state and federal officials worked to identify ways to keep the plant running. Even after Entergy announced the date it planned to shutter FitzPatrick, the fight to keep the plant open continued.

Proponents of keeping the plant open received good news in July when Entergy confirmed the company was negotiating to sell FitzPatrick to Exelon.

Critics said the state should not subsidize nuclear energy because alternative fuels exist that are safer and renewable.

Exelon owns Fitzpatrick's Nine Mile Point plants and the Ginna reactor near Rochester.