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Good news: Gov. Kathy Hochul has tapped the New York State Power Authority to build the first major new US nuclear power plant in over 15 years.
Bad news: New York’s history of politicians succumbing to anti-nuclear fear-mongering will likely deter many potential private “partners” interested in constructing the one-gigawatt plant.
After all, it’s only been four years since then-Governor Andrew Cuomo prematurely shut down Indian Point — and four decades since then-Governor Mario Cuomo halted the $6 billion Shoreham nuclear plant before it even began operations.
Hochul has belatedly acknowledged the truth: New York stands no chance of approaching its clean-energy targets without nuclear energy — and indeed is already struggling to have sufficient generating capacity to meet the natural increase in electricity demands.
For example, Micron’s New York semiconductor plant will require massive amounts of reliable electricity, potentially 1.85 gigawatts at full capacity â enough to power half a million homes.
The windmills and solar power plants pushed by the state Climate Action Plan can never meet that need.
Yet nuke plants take a long time to build, and getting the state-of-the-art modular reactor Hochul envisions is a lot harder than calling for it.
The Cuomos’ anti-nuke actions â Long Islanders are still paying for Shoreham, while Indian Point had supplied 25% of the electricity needed for the city and Westchester â ensure that any company will demand a huge risk premium before investing a dime in building a nuke plant in the Empire State.
Which is why Hochul left the door open to the Power Authority footing the bills itself â without mentioning this means taxpayer support and/or stiff new fees on utility bills.
She also didn’t mention that, since any new nuclear plant is 15 or so years off, the state’s going to need new carbon-fueled power plants in the meantime, pushing the Climate Act’s goals even further out of reach.
Consider it all just a few more reasons we all have the Cuomo clan to thank for a huge chunk of New York’s deep “affordability” problems.
