nuclear-news

Is it really a “Public Necessity” to bail out New York’s aging nuclear facilities?

It is pretty stupid for the State to take over an uneconomic business, just in order to provide jobs. Even more absurd, considering the costs, to ignore the opportunity to develop genuinely clean jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Is this news journal also continuing to mindlessly perpetrate the nuclear lobby lie, that nuclear power combats global warming?

New York Nuclear Plants Deemed A “Public Necessity”, Oil Price, By Leonard Hyman & William Tilles – Aug 06, 2016 Last week the New York Public Service Commission approved a Clean Energy Standard for the state. The two key components are a mandate for 50 percent renewables by 2030 and a subsidy mechanism for four, and possibly six, aging nuclear facilities upstate.

The renewables standard is not controversial. Not so the planned nuclear subsidies. The new directive will require all electricity buyers in the state to purchase power from these nuclear facilities at a relatively high price in the interest of carbon reduction. The state does not use its own money.

The need for nuclear subsidies, at least in the minds of state officials, appears to be fairly straightforward. Entergy Corp., which owns the FitzPatrick nuclear facility, has decided to shutter the unit permanently on the grounds that it is no longer economic to operate. Entergy has also arrived at a similar conclusion for its older, smaller nuclear facilities in Vermont and Massachusetts. But with the subsidy passed, Exelon, which owns two other stressed nukes upstate, may buy FitzPatrick and keep it open.

The subsidies on offer run for a period of 12 years starting April 2017, and begin at about 2 cents for every kilowatt hour of electricity produced and escalate to almost 3 cents per kwh by the end of the deal. Published reports set a $7.6 billion price tag for these subsidies, but the amount could be much higher since the agreement provides for the subsequent inclusion of the Indian Point nuclear units.

There being no apparent economic rationale for the continued operation of these units, given low natural gas prices, the state has justified its economic intervention by designating these facilities a “public necessity”. However, as far as we know, there is neither a looming power shortage nor a particular systems engineering requirement necessitating the ongoing operation of the units. More likely there is a political motive. Perhaps the Governor is using energy policy to shore up support with upstate constituencies where local economies have enjoyed less of the finance-fueled dynamism of downstate…….http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/New-York-Nuclear-Plants-Deemed-A-Public-Necessity.html

August 8, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general