Nuclear Subsidy Bill HELD

Today the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee has held the bill for nuclear subsidies. The bill, S877 (Sweeney) would establish the Nuclear Diversity Certificate program. This is identical to the bill that failed to get through during last session. The bill supports Chris Christie’s original negotiations to give PSEG subsidies for their nuclear plants in New Jersey. 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. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“Every time this nuclear subsidy bill is held or discussed in a meeting or hearing, it gets worse. Each time it comes out more of a mess with more giveaways to PSEG. Each day it gets worse and more expensive. The bill is a complete giveaway to PSEG and still does not have any real action on wind power or community solar. This is becoming the Christmas tree in February except the only thing green about this tree is the money PSEG will take from ratepayers. This bill is the biggest subsidy and rip-off in the history of New Jersey. It will tie Governor Murphy’s hands when it comes to renewable energy.

“Phil Murphy has committed to a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050 and this bill undermines that goal. It would subsidize nuclear power at the expense of renewables such as wind and solar. They’re having this hearing without any input from the New Administration. There’s no reason to shamefully rush this through and zero justification for any nuclear subsidies. It’s nothing more than giving PSEG a blank check from the ratepayer.

“The new changes give a lot of deference to BPU, they’ve had 20 years to create a renewable portfolio, why would they do it now? The new changes have goals of generating 50 MW of solar, but that is what we are currently using. Before Christie compromised our solar portfolio, we were generating 80MW of solar. Under this bill we would be generating less than that.  There are no amendments for offshore wind goals. All this bill is hot air when it comes to the environment. The bill has goals of becoming energy efficient by dropping energy use by 1% however that is already the standard. Amendments incorporate community solar but there is no standard for what that is. We’re rushing this bill before we get it right. These changes are just empty promises for the environment.

“The only thing green is the money they are ripping off from the ratepayers. The whole bill is just an excuse to subsidize the nuclear power plants. They are getting $300 million a year whether they need it or not. We should not be moving forward with this nuclear subsidy deal when PSEG will get $800 million in subsidies from Trump’s tax cut. PJM is also looking to give them millions in subsidies. Under energy deregulation these plants also received $2.5 billion dollars in subsidies as Stranded Assets, despite being profitable. PSEG still want to take billions of NJ ratepayer money to subsidize nuclear their power plants that are already making money. The new changes to this bill does not take into consideration the millions of dollars PSEG will be receiving from PJM.

“PSEG’s nuclear plants aren’t in any jeopardy and don’t need any financial assistance for at least a couple years. All this is about is taking care of stockholders and bondholders. Two of the plants looking for subsidies, Salem 1 and 2, operate without cooling towers to mitigate for fish kills. Unlike bills in other states, this nuclear subsidy bill does not have any language that protects or promotes renewable energy. This means that when the plants close, they can be replaced with natural gas. This hearing is a shameful start to the new session. The Legislature has no need to push through this bill that will severely interfere with Governor Murphy’s clean energy goals.”

“A new report reveals cooperation between PSEG and the Christie Administration. When you write bills behind closed doors, it never benefits the public. It’s how Government sells out the people to Special Interest. In this case, it’s even worse because they want an open-ended subsidy that could cost ratepayers billions of dollars at the expense of renewable energy. Adding the privacy language shielding PSEG’s financials from the public just shows how underhanded of a proposal this is. They want to hide from the public how much they’re going to get fleeced with these subsidies that PSEG doesn’t need in the first place.

“There is no reason to shamefully rush this through and zero justification for any nuclear subsidies. It’s nothing more than giving PSEG a blank check from the ratepayer that will undermine progress for renewable energy in New Jersey. This bill hurts renewable energy and ratepayer’s wallets. The bill is nothing but a green scam to rip off ratepayers to raise their dividends and stock prices.”