Groups Oppose Nuclear Subsidy Bill

Today a broad coalition of business, community, and environmental groups are speaking out about the nuclear subsidy bill, S877 (Sweeney). We believe that the bill undermines renewable energy and hurts the communities and ratepayers of New Jersey. The press conference is being held on Tuesday February 6, 2018 at 1:00 pm at the Statehouse Annex Steps, 131-137 W State St, Trenton, NJ 08608.

“Every time this nuclear subsidy bill gets amended, it gets worse. It’s become a bigger and bigger green cover that gives PSEG a blank check. Most of the additions regarding renewable energy will only enrich the utility companies and doesn’t have anything to do with helping the environment. This is all about helping PSEG’s bottom line. They say they’re making the bill greener but the only green added is more money from ratepayers. This is a financial Fukushima: it’s a complex green scam that puts the environment and ratepayers of NJ at risk,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This bill will block and stop renewable energy and green jobs from moving forward in NJ. The bill is nothing but an excuse to rip off ratepayers to raise their dividends and stock prices. PSEG should stand for ‘Public Service Excessive Greed’.”

Under this bill, PSEG could start receiving subsidies within a year, despite being profitable enough to have bid into auction. It also includes subsidies to fix up their plants. The bill goes minimally through 2030 but can be extended. The bill has been worked on behind-the-scenes with little opportunity for public examination and input.

“The nuclear bailout bill has gotten worse, and still does not guarantee the financial transparency needed to ensure ratepayers won’t subsidize profitable nuclear plants,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “Our clean, renewable future should not be hijacked by the nuclear industry, and we need a comprehensive Energy Master Plan to help chart a way forward to reach Gov. Murphy’s goal of 100% clean energy by 2050, not a rush to an artificial deadline. We have got to get this right.”

Under energy deregulation these plants received billions in subsidies as Stranded Assests, despite the plants being profitable. They received hundreds of millions more from the ratepayers via Nuclear Plant Closure funds. Currently the three major nuclear power plants in NJ have made the auction and are financially profitable. The fourth, Oyster Creek, usually makes auction but is scheduled to close in 2020. Two of the plants looking for subsidies, Salem 1 and 2, operate without cooling towers to mitigate for fish kills. We have given them billions already that they’ve used to kill billions of fish a year.

“The nuclear bill began as an ill-advised effort to prop up PSEG’s profitable nuclear power plants, despite PSEG’s complete failure to demonstrate the need for the billions of dollars of subsidies it has demanded to prevent the closure of the plants. The bill has now morphed into a huge ‘Christmas come early’ gift for PSEG that would authorize the company to pursue a host of expensive energy programs, festooned with regulatory perks like rate decoupling and other financial incentives that have consistently been denied the company in other contexts. PSEG is the primary author of this terrible bill, whose every provision favors the interests of the company over those of the citizens and businesses of this State. If this bill were to be signed into law, the utility’s monthly customer bill would serve as a constant reminder to our citizens how the state government failed to protect their interests against a single greedy company that was inexplicably given free reign to shamelessly feather its own nest,” said Steven Goldenberg, NJ Large Energy Users Coalition.

At the hearing, PSEG spread misinformation by comparing this bill to the ones in Illinois or New York. In those states, their nuclear subsidies are tied to renewable energy goals and replacing the plants with renewables when they close. New York’s nuclear subsidy was tied to a goal of 50% renewable by 2030 as well as closing Indian Point and coal plants. In Illinois, the subsidy was attached to money for renewable energy.

“A tax is a tax is a tax is a tax whether it’s called a zero emission credit, a nuclear diversity certificate, bailout or subsidy. AARP’s 1.3 million members, thousands of whom have written or called their legislators, and the voting public, know that things are what they are and oppose this tax. This legislation, being written behind closed doors, would mandate an unwarranted, unfair broad based nuclear tax that will cost every NJ ratepayer and business billions of dollars to pad the profits of an already profitable nuclear industry. It is time for our elected representatives to stand with consumers and oppose this rushed, ill-advised and harmful legislation. It’s time to start over with a process that exemplifies good government and good policy – one that is transparent, deliberative, open to all, based on independently verifiable facts, fair and balanced,” said Evelyn Liebman, AARP NJ Director of Advocacy.

These plants come with serious safety and health concerns. There are many issues from the uranium mining, especially within Indigenous communities. There are also lots of safety concerns with nuclear waste and storage. The Salem power plants have antiquated cooling systems threatens the Delaware River’s water quality and the supply for drinking water for 15 million people. The present cooling system at the Salem nuclear power plant is also responsible for killing 3 billion fish a year, a number which would be drastically lower if the plant had the necessary cooling towers.

“The basic premise of the bill is wrong because it defines nuclear energy as clean energy and puts it in the renewables category. Just because you cannot see, taste, or smell nuclear emissions does not make the energy source clean or renewable. Energy derived from a fuel source is not renewable. This bill directs a subsidy to an old, dying industry for the sake of stockholder return rather than giving birth to a sustainable, more resilient energy future for New Jersey that will create jobs and keep us moving forward. We shouldn’t be shoring up a Frankenstein and those that profit from it,” said Amy Goldsmith, Clean Water Action state director.

The newly amended version of the S877 (Sweeney) could be introduced as soon as Thursday, February 8^th.