nuclear-news

Assembly Energy Committee queries New York Governor on push for nuclear subsidies

Assembly energy chair questions Cuomo push for nuclear subsidies, Politico By Scott Waldman 07/21/16 ALBANY—The chair of the Assembly Energy Committee is questioning the Cuomo administration’s plan to subsidize upstate nuclear reactors and its potential cost to New York residents.

On Tuesday, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin of Westchester sent a list of pointed questions to the Cuomo administration seeking more information about how much the plan would cost consumers and how much of the subsidy would go to jobs. Paulin, a Democrat, also questioned how it would affect low-income energy customers and asked if the administration had considered whether offshore wind farms could account for some of the emissions-free energy sources the state hopes to cultivate.

Paulin’s request touched on many of the key details about the plan that the administration has yet to release. The administration projected that the plan would cost $1 billion over the next two years, but that costs would climb steeply thereafter. The plan could cost more than $8 billion in the next 12 years, with all of the cost spread through utility bills.

Paulin asked how the plan will spread costs to all utility customers.

“Will the cost for the nuclear tier be evenly distributed among all ratepayers in the state, or will there be some accommodation made for ratepayers who are not served directly from the power produced?” she asked.

The administration has set an aggressive schedule for its plan, and Paulin said the two-week public comment period for the plan was “unusually tight” and requested a response to 13 questions before any action is taken. The PSC is expected to act at its August 1 meeting.

Exelon, which owns three of the four upstate reactors and is seeking to buy the fourth, has said it will close one of them if subsidies are not in place by September………

A coalition of good government groups on Wednesday requested additional time for public comment on the plan. ReInvent Albany, Common Cause and the New York Public Interest Research Group, said they were joining with dozens of environmental and community groups in calling for a 45-day public comment period because of the “magnitude of the potential costs.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/07/energy-chair-questions-nuclear-subsidies-as-groups-call-for-more-time-104064#ixzz4FBfSWc7a

July 23, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA